Years on a Calendar
by WhatifStoryTeller
Summary: After breaking a potion, Monkey D. Luffy wakes up on a fishing ship back at the very beginning of his adventure! People are missing, while others has changed drastically. It's up to Luffy to regroup his old crew before the pages of on the calendar are gone! Can he get back to his old timeline? And will he change the fates of his crew? Time!Travel Genderbent-Crew AU Slight ZoLuSan
1. Skami Island

The houses were built with several beams of wood and opaque walls. Rose petals were wet from sailing on the ocean's waves; leftovers from yesterday's tradition. Franky hosted a rope over the edge of the ship and several bodies climbed down it into a smaller version of the ship. The larger ship with a sunflower lion stayed miles away from the shoreline.

Once the smaller ship decked on the island, they exited it and locked it into place. An orange haired woman stepped first onto the island. Her eyes were wide from amazement that was set before her. A metal archway was placed at the end of the dock with a sign next to it.

_'Welcome all. If help is needed, please call.'_

The woman approached the archway. On the spines of the twisted metal were locks. All of them were different sizes and shape, but they were all locked. She touched the nearest one and the dust lifted onto her finger. "Does anyone clean this?"

"Some of these locks are from 50 years ago." Another woman from the group stepped up observed the locks. "The oldest ones are dated before Gol D. Roger's age."

Nami tiled her head and stared at the archway. She took a step pass it, and immediately she saw two other archways exactly like this one being covered in locks. "How many are th-"

A boy sped pass her and entered the small city. "So this is Skami Island!"

The young girl glared. She dusted her pant legs and muttered a curse under her breath. Robin gave a small grin and walked forward with her captain. The others behind them followed. "There's not much here," a dark skinned boy noted.

"Everything's out of date," a over sized giant added onto the statement.

"This is a island of old traditions."

"Are there samurai, Robin-chan?"

"There may be a few wandering samurai, but in a island so peaceful, I believe they would have different positions." The island itself was neutral to every war because of government policies. Without many resources, it was never sought after. But if invaded, island surrounding it would attack the invading forces because of it's neutral state.

The blond flicked his cigarette and allowed the ash to fall onto the ground. "So there are some peaceful islands in the Grand Line."

"Hopefully it stays like it," Nami uttered. Trouble follows them to every island they step foot on. She shook her head; they just needed to keep Luffy in line.

The group followed their captain to the center of the small town. The path led to a water fountain where the water dipped slowly from the top bowl into a bowl with sparkling green rocks. Other paths lined down between the houses. Some were larger or smaller than the others, but they all kept the basic design. Wood was used for the base, as shown in the corners and on roofs, while a thin coat of opaque paper connected them. There were openings with a wood frame. Franky walked next to Sanji. "Where do you think the inn is? Every house looks the same."

"Shouldn't there be signs outside?" Usopp wondered out loud. How was one suppose to know which was a house and which was a shop?

"There is someone, we should go ask him," Sanji pointed to the man who was two houses away from the water fountain. Luffy walked forward, but he was quickly pulled back by the blonde. "We don't need trouble." In response, the black haired boy gave a pout and a grumbled.

Nami went toward the man. "Hello? We need some help here," she pointed to her group.

"What kinda help are ya lookin' for?"

"Where would an inn be?"

The man chuckled and pointed across the lot. "Right ther'e. First house to the left of the dockin' trail."

"Thank you," she nodded and went back to her group. "They must be friendly here. The inn's right next to the path we just took." She pointed to the spot.

"THANKS!" Luffy shouted at the man before heading to the building. The others followed him. The building was the small as others, except for a blue strip above the door.

"Color coded?" Franky uttered.

"Blue is the color of rest and night..."

The others shrugged and went inside the place. The doors were pushed inward and they walked through the wooden doorframe. "Hello?" Usopp questioned.

A man appeared from the back of the greeting room. He pulled on a blue headband and looked at the six pirates. "Six rooms?"

"There's two others. Eight rooms please." Robin answered him.

"Then you get the first eight rooms. Four on the left, four on the right. Under what name?"

"Sunny," Franky stated.

The man looked confused for a moment before writing the name onto the sheet; repeating eight times. "Done."

Before they stepped out, Nami looked at the man behind the desk. "Are there any shops nearby?"

"Look for the yellow above the doors. Red means diner, or restaurant, but there's only one in town; it's near the forest. Blue is this inn or pubs, Green is other types of businesses. If you got any questions, just come back or ask around."

She nodded at him, then turned around to followed after the others. They were already separated into groups. Franky and Robin was heading back to the ship to get supplies and the last two members. Luffy and Usopp was heading to the diner. It only left Sanji, who was waiting for her. He would, of course, be her camel while shopping.

The orange haired walked next to Robin. "Could you go with Luffy?"

Robin looked at her captain and nodded. "It will be no problem."

Nami gave a sigh of relieve and left with the blonde to go shopping. Franky traveled back on the path to the dock. This left Usopp, Luffy and Robin alone. "Shall we go, Luffy-san?"

Usopp grinned, "The forest is that way," he pointed west.

The other boy smiled from ear to ear. "Race ya there!" He stretched his legs and jumped from one place to the other.

"Shit," Usopp muttered. He picked up his bag from the ground and flung it around his shoulder. He moved quickly behind Luffy.

"This is going to be fun," Robin giggled and walked after the two.

...

Chopper turned back into his brain point after moving the last bag onto the ship. With only Brook staying on the ship, they were hiding their valuables in the bottom on the ship. The other items, such as clothes and brushes, were moved onto the smaller boat. Zoro was already there with Franky once Chopper was done with the last load.

Brook sat out and looked at the three boys. With a smile, he called out "Goodnight!" Chopper repeated it back to him with a greater smile.

The sun was already setting against the ocean. Lights on the island began to glow. Chopper's mouth dropped in awe. From this distance the lights looked like fireflies. Each one was glowing so vibrate against the simple decor. It was even more amazing up close. Candles were lite inside of paper lanterns. The pattern on the lantern was reflected against the walls. "So cool."

Franky poked the small reindeer. "We could always get some on the ship."

"Awesome."

Zoro nodded, but something so fragile wouldn't last long on the ship.

The boat reached the deck, and once more Franky tied the small version of the Sunny up. The three began to carried the luggage to the inn, but Chopper halted and the two glanced back. "Locks?"

"Oh," Franky mumbled. "Guess it's an old tradition they do."

Chopper nodded and stared at the locks. "Maybe I should leave one here too?"

"I wonder what's the purpose."

"Secrets, promises, love...? That's all I can think of," Zoro answered. "If it's promises, then Luffy would have an whole archway to himself."

Chopper nodded, and proceeded through the archway. He thought it was a cool idea, maybe he could get Luffy and Usopp to join him. The three of them, maybe the whole crew, could leave a lock like the others. Franky went through the door first and nodded to the man working there. The other two followed behind the giant cyborg. There was a hallway next to the desk. Doors were on each side. "One through eight are our rooms."

The cyborg carried his bag into the eighth room.

Zoro chose second, and Chopper gotten sixth. Each room was simple, and small. There was only a mattress, and shelves for their items. And with only paper separating them, it was easy to hear the others moving around. They placed the other bags into the rooms, having the crew members sort it out afterwords.

Going back into the hallway, they glanced down it. It was a lounge for the guests; in which they were the only guests at the moment. The man working there appeared behind them. "Hot springs are on top of the hill, a part of the inn...and local." The man disappeared back into the greeting room. Chopper gulped and slowly turned around. The man appeared so suddenly that it sent chills down his body.

"Where's the others?" the green haired asked.

"Strawhat, Longnose, and Nico Robin are at the diner. The other two are shopping," Franky paused between the two sentences; trying to remember where Sanji and Nami went. "Look for the yellow-"

"Yellow what?" the swordsman questioned.

Franky rolled his eyes and walked outside. He pointed to the stain above the door, a blue, and looked back to them. "Red above the door is the shops. Yellow is the diner...which should be next to the forest."

"Met back up at the blue?" Chopper questioned.

The cyborg nodded, "I'm gonna go shopping before it's too late." He started walking away into a column of houses. He looked above every door, hoping for the yellow marker. "This place's confusing," he grumbled. It was loud enough that the two pirates heard.

Zoro took led and started walking down a different path until the reindeer halted him. "This path leads to the hill. We are suppose to go to the one that's by the forest."

"Oh," was all Zoro could said. He turned around and started once more once he caught sight of a treeline over the houses. The two traveled along the path, crossing the paper houses and archways. Finally they reached the forest. "Red is diner...There it is," he went to the door two houses away from their path. The small reindeer followed behind, with his hooves trotting on the dirt path.

The lights were glowing more brightly now that the sun set. The supposed diner had a few more windows than the other buildings next to it. There was a panel of smooth wood on each side on the door that ended once it connected to the windows on each side.

Zoro swung the door opened and glazed around the place. It was much more opened than at the inn. Several tables were placed around the room, and a few chairs at the counter. The green haired swordsman quickly caught sight of his captain, who was laughing with chucks of rice in his mouth. The short grain rice fell onto his shirt and stuck to the fabric.

"Luffy! Ussop! Robin!" the hairy doctor squealed as he ran up to them.

"You were just about to miss the party," Usopp snickered. He picked up one of his rolls and popped it into his mouth. "Brook stay on the ship?"

"Last time, there was a riot when he came on land. Said it was better safe than sorry." Zoro grabbed a chair from a nearby table and seated himself between Robin and the longnose. Only two other tables in the diner were being used, but their were the loudest.

"That must be burin!" Luffy complained as his cheeks were full of food.

A waitress came to their table, "Would you like anything else?"

"Sake."

"Mure Meeat," Luffy barely said with his food.

"Could I have some more tea?" Robin questioned as she stirred her cup.

Chopper was looking at the menu and his eyes widen. Drool started to form at the edges. "C-Can I have the chocolate swirls cheesecake?"

"And I, Captain Usopp, will have the," he paused, "hot chocolate."

She looked above her paper, "Is that all?" The black haired nodded in response and the girl went on her way again. Her trail lead to the other table across the room before coming back to the bar.

"The outsides, design, stays with the old tradition, but the citizens seem to act differently." The elder woman took her napkin and brushed her chin.

"Just wait until you find the elders," Usopp motioned with his hands. "N-Not that they are bad or anything, just meaning they would be uh...more honest? Uh...keep with the old ways...?"

"Maybe... There should be more information about this island within a building marked with green."

Zoro's glaze slowly moved and stayed on Robin. "How are you suppose to find it with only one clue?"

"There's more signs to mark the buildings. This diner had a different layout than the inn, and a change on the outside. This leads me to believe something regarding the history of this island would be one of the oldest buildings, or the tallest. A green marker indicts a different building than one of shopping, diner, or the inn."

"There's nothing on the boat about this island?" Chopper questioned.

"Most are from the outsider's view, which shows very little changes than of those who live on the island themselves."

"Sounds boring," Luffy said. "I wonder if there's dragons on this island."

"Robin said old tradition, not old folk tales!"

The waitress came back with their dishes and drinks; placing each in front of them. Usopp picked up a spoon and dunk it into the cup before slipping from the spoon. It was piled with cream and tiny pillow-look alike, which could be marshmallows. "Thanks," he nodded.

"Enjoy your food."

"You to-"

"Better keep the sake coming," Zoro took a gulp from his cup. This saved Usopp from embarrassing himself infront of the kind woman.

Chopper looked at a grandfather's clock in the corner. "Shouldn't Sanji and Nami be done by now?"

"They must be at the inn," Usopp answered.

"More meat for me!" Luffy excited. He grabbed a chicken leg from the table and stuffed it into his mouth; biting through the bone. It cracked and shattered pieces flung across the table; barely missing Zoro who dodged in time. Even Usopp jumped; hot chocolate started spilling from the edges of his lips.

"Watch it."

"Surrie!" the captain grinned with meat stuck between his teeth. The dark skinned man gulped the rest of his sake down while giving Luffy a deadly look. It wasn't long before he changed direction to the girl coming back with his refill.

Usopp popped his late roll in his mouth. "I'm gonna go back to the inn now." His hot chocolate cup sat on the table with a slip left. "It's getting dark."

"I'm going too," the small reindeer popped off his seat. His hooves smacked against the ground as he went out the wooden door with Usopp.

...

"Looks like this has to go into the ship," Nami mumbled out loud. Their rooms were sizes of a walk in closet, giving her no room for their shopping items. With the ship nearby, it shouldn't be a problem, plus with Sanji's service, she doesn't have to break a sweat.

Sanji nodded and dragged the numerous bags along the path; Nami followed behind him onto the deck where the boat was docked. He was able to load the bags up, "Nami-swan~ I got this, so you sweet angel can go back to the inn~!"

"Thanks Sanji-kun! Be sure to place this under deck for now."

She grinned as the boat started and zipped through the waves. She could go back, but none of the crew members were there yet. She could always go visit their hot springs on the hill, but with the sun sitting, being indoors was a safe bet. Tomorrow they could explore the island more thoroughly. There were other small communities other than this one, because it was so spread out with forests and large hills amount the size of mountains parting them. _'I could always go find Luffy and the others...but they should be heading back by now...'_

She rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. They will be back soon enough.

Her footsteps marched back to the water fountain and she turned to the inn. Inside, they changed the worker. It was a middle aged woman who seen her years of hard work. "Welcome," she greeted.

"I have a room, under Sunny, here."

"Oh yes. Those are the only ones reserve tonight," the woman smiled tightly with her eyes shut. "Mukio stated so before leaving. The sheets and blankets are already in your rooms, along with your other items."

_'Great, now I have to search for my bags,'_ she thought. "No keys?"

"No locks," the woman kindly stated. "Your rooms are assign to the first eight."

The orange haired moaned and went back into the hallway. She opened the first room, which was only a potato sack filled with few items. Luffy's bag. She moved on to the room across, but only found one bag that belongs to Zoro. Nami found her four bags in the third room, next door to Luffy's. _'Zoro and Chopper must have placed them from the order the crew joined...thoughtful...maybe too much for Zoro, though.'_

She shrugged and entered her small room. Nami tugged on the blankets and lift them over the mattress. Pillows were already fluffed at the end. 'Goodnight,' she absently thought before leaving down.

The inn's door opened and two pirates entered. "Which room's my again?"

The other voice was high-pitch, "The fourth room. Across from Nami's and next door to mine."

_'No locks...Sanji's next door...and Robin's room would be on the other side...'_ She cursed under her breath, _'We will need to change the order tomorrow...'_

"Well, night Chopper." The dark skinned longnose yawned and opened his door. Instead was his backpack and another bag. Chopper entered his room, and quickly gotten under the blankets. There wasn't much heat kept inside of this house.

**You may be thinking: "There's another one of these?! Why do we have to read so many time travel Luffy stories?" And yes, here's another one of them. But, this time with different takes on the arcs, and a minor change to the crew (well, a HUGE change). There may be pairings, there will be different character reactions, and dumb plot devices; but that's for another time. **

**What's different about this story and others? The crew is a different gender, Luffy may actually break the timeline, some favorite characters are missing, some time-travel side effects on Luffy, and it stops before the Whitebeard War (since this takes place after Brook joins the crew). **

**What are the crew's names then? Niko, Savi, Freya/Costa Fruma, Urika, Niwa Robin, Roronoa Zora, Brook, and Toni Toni Chiyo. **


	2. Skami Island 2

Light shined through the walls and onto Chopper's face. He lifted himself from the mattress and wiped his tired eyes. His arm reached black and he stretched while yawning. Taking a few moments to regain his location, he looked at the sides of his room as if staring through them to see his crew members. _'I wonder if Sanji's awake by now...'_

Usually the blonde was awake before the others, with the exception of Robin, to prepare breakfast. But now that they were docked on an island, the need for him to prepare food has disappeared.

Chopper slide the door and glanced both ways. The inn workers weren't in the greeting room, but the other end of the hallway, someone was there. Chopper slide the door back into it's place and starting trotting down the hallway. There were several couches that looked less comfortable than the floor. Robin sat with her legs crossed with a book in her lap. "Good morning," she stated.

"Morning!" Chopper said with a yawn.

Another door opened, and the blonde came out. He was already dressed in his usually suit and blue undershirt. His long legs crossed the hallway into the lounge room. "What a lovely morning, Robin-chan~!"

"It is," she nodded.

"Is there anything I could get you~?"

"There's nothing, but thanks, Sanji-san."

"What are you going to do?" Chopper uttered as he looked at the two.

Robin sat her book down. The sides of her lip gave a small curl. "The history of this island is minute, so I'll searching upon the topic. Maybe there has been more changes than some may think."

The reindeer's mouth rounded. "Oh, can I go with you?"

"Sure, Chopper-san. Is there something you are looking for?" Another door opened and Nami walked out. Sanji imminently hopped down the hallway to greet her.

"I wanted to look around at their medical books. Maybe loo-"

Nami stretched her limbs and cracked her neck. "I need a hot shower."

"There's a spa on the hill," Sanji stated.

"Hot springs," Robin calmly corrected.

"Robin, you want to come with me?" The orange haired asked.

"Me and Chopper-san already made plans."

Nami nodded and moved her hair behind her ears. "Guess I will be going." She heard other footsteps; and already knew. "Sanji-kun?"

"Yes, Nami-swan~?"

"You're not going to peek on me, are you? Or follow me there?"

"WHERE'S BREAKFAST?" Luffy jumped out of his room. He looked down and up the hallway. He didn't smell food in neither direction. His stomach grumbled and he moaned. "I'm hungry..."

"Can't you let me sleep!" Usopp moaned as he shifted to his other side. He moved the pillow and placed it over his eyes to stop the sun from burning his eyes.

The cyborg opened his door and stepped out into the hallway. "It's morning already, man."

"Looks like everyone waking up. Maybe we shall go get breakfast from the diner?" the black haired girl suggested.

"Not everyone!" the longnose wrapped his pillow tighter over his head.

"Come on, Usopp. Wake up already!" Luffy moaned from the outside of his room. The captain slide the door opened and pulled the longnose out of the bed. "We're going to miss breakfast!"

"HELP! THE ENEMY HAS TAKEN ME HOSTAGE!" Usopp wriggled about. Luffy dragged him and his pillow outside of the room. Usopp took his blanket and threw it on Luffy, "SHOOT HIM BEFORE HE GETS TO HIS BASE!"

Nami's stomach grumbled, and moaned. Maybe she should go to the inn instead of the hot springs first. Chopper's head went back and forth as he tried to decide rather which one he should help.

"Come on, Luffy. If he doesn't want to come along, he can come later," Zoro yawned. He poked out of his room, being the one across from Luffy's.

"You're up, Marimo?" Sanji questioned.

"No, I'm buried two hundred feet below ground, Dartboard."

The blonde glared at the green haired, who only ignored it and grabbed his swords. The swordsman shut his mouth and went down the hallway. "I wish," the cook followed behind with Robin.

...

The group split once again to do their activities. The two researchers went on their way for the townhall, or library; anything with historical records or other oddities within. Zoro walked around with Franky as the two were in need of some drinks. The longnose was sent to give Brook some food they brought from the small restaurant. Nami went by herself to the hot springs, while halting Sanji from coming along. Without being able to harass the ladies, he somehow was in charge of keeping his captain out of trouble.

The blonde stood there mumbling about how this was unfair, and Nami-swan and Robin-chan would need his attention. "Hey Sanji. I'm going to go explore."

_'Oh great. Now I have to search for him,'_ the blonde rolled his eyes. "You better not get yourself lost, or I'm going to throw you into the ocean."

"That's mean," Luffy pulled out his tongue. "There's not much else to do here."

"What else could there be other than these fine beauties?" he pointed to the girls on their way to work. "So civil, graceful, and...GET BACK HERE, IDIOT!"

The lad didn't even allow Sanji to continue his speech about the fine arts of women. He raced ahead into the forest line. The cook followed after him with great speed. '_I did not sign up for this.' _He ran through the trees and looked both ways. Luffy was almost as directionless as Zoro; he could never find his way back to the ship by himself. "Come out, Asshole!"

He shook his head. There were fewer trees, and soon he came to an opening. Flowers bloom with insects buzzing about. The grass was contain though this was wild area. Sanji glanced around until he sighted red. "Luffy! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Yo! Sanji! Come look at this!" He hopped up and down. While grinding his teeth, Sanji went to the captain's location. "What is i-"

In front of them was a pin full of sheep. "What's with these..."

Luffy reached over the wooden goat and petted their wool. "It's rough...geeps?"

"Looks like goats. Those ones must be shaved," he pointed to what he thought were sheep moments ago. "This must be their farmland. Not far away from the town."

The black haired boy bent down, with his knees touching his shoulders. He looked into the goat's eyes. "Can I ride you?"

"You're not going to get an answer."

"Then it's a yes."

It took Sanji a moment to understand what was going on. His captain pulled the goat out of it's pin; then placed her onto the ground. The goat started to stir from being taken outside of her yard. She looked both ways and her legs started to move. The captain took no time on jumping onto her back. The goat galloped forward. Moving side to side to get the human boy off of her back. It wasn't working.

"LUFFY! JUMP OFF!" Sanji shouted. It caused the herd of goats to stir. They scattered about and made baa's noises. They were louder than the cook, which caused him to shout louder in hopes Luffy would hear and listen.

Captain did not listen. He was roaring with excitement; the goat was the total opposite. She ran towards the trees; Luffy squealed with delight; Sanji shouted with fright. On the other side of that was the city, and craze goats weren't welcomed.

In the city, Chopper stepped outside of the building he found with Robin. It wasn't a library, but it held some insightful books for his research; but the town's records were no where in sight, unfortunately. He was able to scan through the pages and took some to study on board the ship. It was run by a witch, who was nowhere in sight, but other items of the household was kept in charge. Brooms sweep the floors and retreated when one turned around. Candles lite up as they walked down the aisles.

Luffy.

Goat.

Chopper.

The goat ran forward at full speed. Chopper dropped his books and other items onto the ground, and ran away as the goat chased him. The small reindeer went to the first safe heaven he saw; the building he just exited moments ago. "SHUT THE DOOR!"

It was too late.

The goat bolted inside, Luffy was flung off and knocked several items down. A bottle broke and dust fell onto the ground.

Papers scattered throughout.

Chopper ran.

Robin observed.

The human was off of her back, the goat thought. She went to the first thing she saw: papers. Books and calendars brighten her eyes as she stormed through the small building. Her teeth sunken through one, and papers scattered from the calendar. All of them fluttered onto of Luffy's body. The dust sparkled ontop of several items that rested nearby.

"Ocho Fleur Flip."

Hands appeared, and quickly the sheep was pulled down by numerous hands.

"Luffy! Chopper! Robin-chaun~!" Sanji went from angry to confused to lovely within the matter of seconds.

"Sanji! The sheep came and Luffy and torn everything up!" Chopper looked bewildered from what has happened within the matter of seconds. The young doctor looked back and forth until he seen Luffy. He ran to his captain's said. "He's not waking up!"

"That idiot must have knocked his head on something," Sanji grumbled. "Guess we have to take him back to the ship..."

A single bottle, broken at the top, rolled across the floor. Several pieces of dust fell from the top and onto the floor.

Robin notched the goat with a rope nearby. She could already see it was a bad idea once the rope started to sparkle as it wrapped around the goat's limbs. She could only think of it as a plus as it tied itself up instead of her doing so. "Where did she come from?"

"Out pass the forest, but I will take her back, Robin-chaun~!" He dropped Luffy's body back onto the ground as he went all lovely on Robin's actions. "You're so nice and kindhearted!"

"SANJI!" Chopper squealed. "Luffy could have a skull fracture or a concussion!"

"He's made of rubber! He can survive anything!"

Robin looked at the two, and calmly put her word in. "Sanji-san." The blond turned and looked at her. "Please listen to Chopper-san. Usually by now, Luffy-san would have recovered, but he hasn't. I will take her back."

"Of course, Robin-chan~!"

Chopper's mouth dropped. He shook his head and grumbled about Sanji's reaction. "Come on, and let's go get him on the ship. I have my supplies there, Sanji-san."

"Okay, anything for Robin-chaun~!" He quickly agreed and took his captain's body over his shoulder.

Chopper opened the door, allowing the blond to walk through. He waited for Robin, but she was staring at something on the floor. "What is it?" he questioned.

"There may have been a curse on Captain-san," Robin stated without taking her eyes away from the mess the goat caused. "Everything in here is magical, some sort of way and form. As one would said, not everything is how it seems." She pointed to the rope that fixed itself onto the raging goat.

The little reindeer gulped. Something like that was beyond his knowledge. He could only hope it was only a medical issue, and not of one magically. "D-Do you think...Luffy's cursed?!"

"We won't know until all of the others choices are eliminated."

Robin took a hold of the craze goat and carried it out with six of her arms. Chopper shut the door behind her, and quickly caught up to the cook; while shivering at the thoughts of Luffy being cursed. Sanji was only three houses ahead of Chopper, which was easy for the small reindeer to catch up. The cook looked a bit peeve at the accident just minutes ago. "I told him not to ride her..." he grumbled under his breath, referring to the goat and Luffy.

Soon they gotten to the water fountain stationed in the center of the village. They took the way with the archway, and lead to the ship. The small boat form before was still docked there. Other than that small vessel, there was only a single fishing boat a few spaces across. When they passed it, Chopper held his nose. It smelled like cheese that has been left out for months with sliced raw salmon on top. "We didn't see this here yesterday...I wonder if they have any good ones..." Sanji thought out loud to himself.

They settled in the boat with Luffy rested on Sanji's lap. This only happened because of Chopper's nagging about keeping his head from moving too much. The ship was unleashed from the wooden post, and drifted into the small waves. The small reindeer transform into his human point and sail to the larger ship. Brook was standing by the figure head once they appeared.

"Good afternoon, Brook!" Chopper greeted once the boat was hosted back into the Sunny.

"What do you got there?" he questioned.

Sanji held Luffy's body in his two arms. "Baka got into an accident. What else."

"He hasn't woke up?"

Chopper shook his head.

"Have you tried this? Luffy-san! There's a fresh load of meat! Sanji-san just made breakfast, actually, now that I think about it, I am still hungry. I have to put meat on these bones!" Brook bent over with his own joke. Luffy has still shown no signs of movement. Not even a twitch in his eyelid when food was mentioned.

"Usopp has already been here?"

"He has and went. How's the island?"

"Old on the outside, a bit strange on the inside," Sanji shrugged.

"They hold old traditions," Chopper added.

"Like make sacrifices to the demons? Or run outsiders out of the village?" He opened the door to the infirmary as he questioned them. The two walked inside, and Sanji calmly rested Luffy onto the bed.

"Neither that we know of. If you want to go into the village, then go. We will stay here and guard the stupid captain and ship," Sanji uttered. Brook nodded but he stayed there in the doorway looking down on Luffy. "He's gonna be fine, right Chopper?"

"Uh...yeah," he paused. Robin's words made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He took a cloth bandages from one of his draws and started wrapping Luffy's head. Sanji held the black hair's head up as Chopper went around it with the cloth. They positioned it along his jaw and around his neck until the roll of bandages finally run out. Chopper tied the end piece around another stable piece. "He should be fine for now, Sanji-san, Brook-san. I will stay here and watch him."

Sanji nodded, but guilt caused his feet to stay on the floorboards. Unlike the others on the ship, Luffy was usually the first to recover, specially over something as minor as this. Nami-swan did give him the job of looking over this idiot. "Guess I could cook something up to munch on later. Brook, you should go and tell Nami-san and the others what happened."

The skeleton nodded, and once again, it would have seem he's traveling alone. He sat in the small vessel and unhooked it from Sunny. The vessel dropped onto the waves, which floated against Sunny. Brook grabbed the wooden sticks and started to paddle away, onto the island.

...

Brook first sighted Robin once he stepped onto the island. He was expecting screams of terror, or at least some fright from being a skeleton and all, but none came; nor did villagers. All of them stayed in their houses, which made looking for his crew members easier. The black haired woman looked up at the skeleton. "Does Doctor-san have Luffy-san under control?" she questioned.

"Yes, they sent me here to tell the others, but it would have seem you already know."

She nodded. "Zoro and Franky are at a pub, Nami should be returning from his bath-"

Brook already disappeared. The image of a naked Nami filled his mind. Maybe he could even get a glance of her panties! Blood, from an unknown source, began pumping out of where his nose was years ago. "YOHOHO!" he laughed in joy. But he halted in his path. The whole village looked the same even though he already passed seven houses. He took five steps back onto the diagonal road. His skull went three-sixty and looked for the black haired vixen. "Robin-san!" he called out.

"Yes, Brook-san?" she replied from behind a house. "Are you already lost?" She gave a slight giggle.

"Where would Nami-san be exactly?"

Robin walked over to a pagoda and pointed to the marker over the door. In this case, the marker was yellow. "First, look for a building with a blue marker. Behind it, on a hill, is the hot springs, where she should be."

"Arigatou, Robin-san!" Brook gave a bright smile and once again his feet were racing along the path. He looked at every single marker, hoping to catch a glance of blue. He saw one, but there was no hill behind it. It was only a pub, and from outside, he could hear the jolly drunks drinking and singing. _'After visiting Nami-san~! I should come here,'_ Brook thought.

The elder black haired girl gave a small grin at the skeleton's behavior. She strolled along the small path as a bag swung from one side to the other. The breeze lifted the skirt of her dress above her knees. Inside the bag was a few things she picked up from the store. Odd and ends that may or may not be helpful in the future; only time will tell.

**Thanks for all of the support!**

**Origin of Luf****fy: 'Luff' as a noun, is defined as act of sailing a ship, or sailing into the wind (sometimes it is translated to balloon); but, according to some sources, this was only a coincidence; Oda chose Luffy because it just fitted. **

_**These are only rumors I found and thought were interesting enough to share. **_


	3. Shells Town

Luffy woke up in a beaten up vessel. "Stupid goat." His lips came together and his cheeks were compacted with air. He stretched out his limbs and looked at his surroundings.

Island and sea.

Because that wasn't much help, he placed his palm over his forehead to block the sunlight and look out through the ocean for Sunny. There wasn't even a dot. There weren't any other islands from his perception, only endless sea and its sea-life. "Too bad Usopp isn't here," he frowned; the sniper had better eyesight than him. "Where is everyone?"

Behind him was the island. It was cluttered with houses on each side from the dirt path that lead from the docks to within the village. Flags and signs were posted all along the houses. There were businesses with their items for sell outside on display, and there were stands for traveling merchants. On a single brick wall were dozens of bounty posters; all of them ranging from the weakest villain to strongest foe in that corner of the sea. In one whole block of the village was all for individual's booths and stands; who couldn't afford their own space.

He could see several villagers going about their daily activities, but none of them were his crew. Nor were they the villagers of Skami Island. "Mystery~" he stated simply. His stomach growled like a lion, and instinct kicked in; look for a pub. What else was he going to do? He lifted his bottom from the small fishing boat and stepped onto the sandy beach that stretched from the docks to the dirt path. This looked mildly, oddly, similar but he didn't place it on anything.

The black haired boy walked through the streets of whatever this island was. The villagers were normal from the looks of it. He stole an fruit from a stand, and a knife missed his thieving hand. "THIEF!" the merchant called out, but he was already mingled into the crowd.

With a smile, he took a bite out of the fruit. It's sweet taste filled his mouth. "Yum," he smiled, but it wasn't enough to fill his black hole of a stomach. On his way there, he passed the brick wall of bountries. There were several papers ripped after the name, only taking the picture and price for their head. But a few of their faces almost stirred a memory; one that he couldn't exactly remember either.

Finding an pub was easy.

A few buildings down from the fruit stand, was pub. He walked inside, the place was very silent. Other than him, it was a lonely mother in the kitchen and the kid repeated her movements of making something. Luffy shrugged and took a seat at the bar.

"Oh! A customer! First one in a week!" the woman yelped, "I will be there in a second!"

Which meant more food for Luffy. He grinned in delight as the mother finally came around and took his order. "Gimme all of the meat you got!"

Her eyebrow raised as she dropped the paper. "All...of our meat?" she faintly repeated.

"That's what I said!" he gave her his friendly smile. The woman with long brown hair gave a slight nod and went back to her cooking station.

"All of our meat?!" the girl questioned in the same repeating manner as her mother.

The woman nodded and placed a few stabs of meat onto the grill. The girl, with much resembles of her mother, looked back at Luffy with bewildered eyes, in which Luffy only replied with a open grin. He gave a chuckle at the girl's reaction. Usually by now, others were use to having large orders from pirates, but it seems this empty pub didn't have much pirate business as any business.

A plate was placed in front of Luffy. "Anything else?"

"Water," he answered. Without a fork or a knife, he dived in with his two hands. He took a large bite out of the piece of meat. From the two in the kitchen, it didn't even looked like he was chewing it, only swallowing it whole. The mother filled a glass to the brim of water, in which Luffy gulped down between bites. Only an idiot would be stupid enough to interrupt his meal.

The door slammed open.

A blonde, wimpy looking, walked inside and placed himself in the middle of the room. The owner became despondent and bug eyed. The girl in the back of the kitchen gulped as the mother shooed her out of the building using a backdoor.

Behind him was two marines, which caused Luffy to keep his head bent, hoping they wouldn't see his he got caught, he would have a angry Nami on his backside. But a voice in the back of his head started nagging him about money once he thought of the orange haired girl. _'Shesh, Nami, I got enough!_' He patted his pocket where he usually kept his walking around money, but he only felt the remaining core of the fruit he stole from moments ago.

Now he was going to get caught by the marines for not paying.

"Feed me and my men for free," a blond stated as he sat down in his chair. The marines sat down and the blond looked at his hands. With a jeering glance to the mother, he became cheeky, "It's quite boring. So I've decided to execute her tomorrow. So everyone, look forward to it!"

The woman became waned and dropped the package of vegetables on the ground.

Luffy empty his plate and dashed for the door; away from the marines. Just like the old times. He raced down the street, pass the fruit stand, and ended up running into an alley. Without much help, he made a full circle back to the pub's alleyway.

There was the girl sitting on the steps. "He's still in there...maybe I can get this to...if I'm fast enough..." the girl mumbled under her breath. She folded a napkin and stuck it inside of her skirt's pocket.

Luffy, with zero clue on where else to go, followed the little girl, until she gotten to a marine base.

He blissfully smiled.

Finally he seen one of his crew members.

He hopped over the fence that the girl was getting a ladder to go over. "Wait!" she cried out, her hand reaching out.

Luffy already shot himself through the air and landed right in front of the person. Deadly aura filled the air around them. Smells of sweat, dirt, and other juices filled the air. But even with the horrible scent, Luffy still smiled at his firstmate. "Zoro!" he became ecstatic, "Man, you got caught by the marines again!" Luffy just laughed in Zora's grave face.

Zora was tied to a wooden post in the middle of a Marine Courtyard. Her forehead was covered by a dark green bandana that caused the skin around her eyes to darken. Her arms were tied, on separated sides of the beam, and sweat dribbled onto the ground. Her dirty white shirt had three buttons on top were unbuttoned, allowing others to see the bandages underneath it. Her shirt was dirtied, even stained black in some places. Other than above her neck, her entire body hanged limp.

"..."

"What's wrong? Oh, where are the others?"

Her face showed no emotion other than glowering. "You're bothering me. Go away."

"Oh, looks like the thief came here himself," a voice stated from behind Luffy. The black haired boy turned around and looked at the five. A blonde was leading four other marines, the same blonde from the pub he left moments ago.

The marines moved fast under the wimp's commands, and grabbed Luffy's body. "So you're a devil fruit user. Guess we will have to drown you." The blonde laughed, "Anyone who helps any prisoners will be executed by the order of Captain Morgan." The marines, who grabbed their seastone handcuffs from inside, slammed them shut on Luffy's wrists. When the five of them were inside of the Marine Base, they saw from the window that Luffy stretched himself to get to Zora. So in a panic, they grabbed their only pair of seastone handcuffs; despite the lack of devil fruits in the East Blue, they had one pair for cases like this. "He's my father, you know."

"Hey! No fa-...ir..." he lumped to the ground as the seastone touched his skin as he became faint.

"I told you to get away," Zora sourly stated. _'His voice seemed a lot softer...'_ Luffy thought, but shrugged. A cloth wrapped around the darkskin's forehead, a way to avoid sunburns from her being left out there in the courtyard. The clothes were tattered and filled with dust, liquids, and other stuff. Flies surrounded the body as they smelled the smell from far away.

"You're that brat from before!" Luffy yelped. "Wasn't Coby with you?"

"I have no clue what the hell you are talking about," the blonde petulantly stated. "But I'm Captain Morgan's son, Helmeppo. My father will know what to do about you." The blonde chuckled as he made his way back into the gates. The marines followed behind with Luffy cuffed to them.

"Shit," Zora mumbled under her breath. That blithe boy was now caught in that insolent wimp.

...

"Can't you take these off me?" Luffy begged them once again.

The marines' mouths stayed shut as they followed behind Helmeppo, not even daring to smash Luffy against the wall from his annoying nature. The four of them moved in pace behind the blond as he walked up to the highest floor. Once they gotten to a certain door, the marines waited outside of the room as the blonde went in.

"Father."

"Helmeppo."

"There was a thief at the pub. He stole food and took it to our prisoner, Roronoa Zora. He's a devil fruit user, I seen it with my own eyes."

"Fill one of our buckets up with seawater and lock him out there with the other prisoner."

Helmeppo chuckled and withdraw from the door. He looked at Luffy with a devious smile. "That's why you don't help scum," the blonde smiled and chuckled. He retraced his path back down the stairs, even stopping at his room to get something.

"...Your room's pink. Girl color."

"Shut it! If I tell my father about this, he's gonna kill you slowly and painful!" He slammed his door shut and glared at the strawhat wearer. "You are lucky I was the one that caught you, and not my father."

"You're still going on about your dad? I thought you were pass that," Luffy rolled his eyes. So much for turning into a decent guy. Maybe that's why Coby wasn't with him anymore.

Helmeppo stomped off down the hallway. The marines gulped as they held onto Luffy. "What the fuck are you doing?!" one of them questioned before they caught back up to the onion haired blonde. Once they caught up, they remained silent as they walked behind the blonde.

"Two in the back. Go get our largest bucket filled with seawater. I want it in the courtyard before we get there."

"Roger!" The two of them walked pass him and practically ran down the rest of the stairs.

"This is what happens when you mess with me," the blonde stated as he walked down another flight of stairs. The two holding Luffy continued. "Actually, don't one of you still have those handcuffs? Cuff his legs as well."

They obeyed imminently, even while they were on the middle of the staircase. One of them dropped Luffy's arm and grabbed his handcuffs that hanged on his side. He bent low to the ground and placed the cold metal on each of Luffy's legs. Once they were back into position, it was difficult carrying Luffy down that flight of steps. His feet dragged down each step, and with more contact with seastone, he was clingy onto the two marines.

Finally they were on the bottom ground. Two large doors laid on each side of the hallway. One was the main entrance, and the other was to the courtyard. The door opened automatically, and they walked through. Luffy's legs made a line from dragging to the barrel of water several feet away from Zora. Her body hanged there, overlooking the water as drool formed at the edges.

"Thirsty, are we?" The onion fool took this time to taunt the Pirate Hunter. "You are really stubborn to be alive." He threw his head back and laughed at the misfortune of Zora.

Zora didn't move a muscle, but deadly aura filled around her, "I will live through the entire month!"

"Get on with it, you fools!" he turned his attention to the marines. They looked at each other and to the barrel. Luffy was then manhandled over the slimy water and pushed in. "By tomorrow morning, I guess this will be goodbye!"

"Ten more days left." Zora stated as she glared at the retreating marines.

"If only you will live that long."

He finally left the courtyard with the other four marines. The sun was setting along the fence line. It was silent between them, until Luffy opened his mouth. "How did you get caught?" Luffy's curious got the best of him.

"None of your damn business."

"Actually...it's because of me," the little girl from before stepped away from the fence. She walked up to the post and dug into her pocket. Within a napkin, was two riceballs. She looked at Luffy, "Zora-san defended me when Helmeppo's pet wolves attacked me... He and his father rules everything on this island..."

_'Weird, I heard this before...'_ Luffy thought. "Zoro, you're my firstmate, right?"

"As if I would ever become scum like pirates," the green haired firmly stated back. She turned to the small girl, "What?"

"Aren't you hungry?" Rika picked up one of the riceballs. "I made you some riceballs. My first try!" She reached to her tippy toes, aiming for Zora's mouth.

"You're going to get yourself killed. Leave already," she bluntly stated.

"But you haven't eaten anything!"

Zora's eyes widen for a moment, but harden as she turned her head away from the girl's reach. "I'm not hungry."

She took a step back, hurt by the woman's words. But she went back again. Finally, Zora opened his mouth, seeing as how the girl wouldn't move back even if she glared at her. She chewed on the riceball even though they had an odd taste. Sugar. It was the only that she has eaten within the pass few days. "How was it, Onee? I used sugar since I thought it would taste better."

"It was..delic...ious... Thanks for the food..."

The little girl smiled and feed Zora the last one. Just from seeing food, Luffy's stomach grumbled. He should have stayed longer and ate the rest. "I have to get back, goodnight!"

"Girl, can you pull my head up a little?" Luffy asked. His neck was started to get closer to the water.

"Uh...okay..." She walked over to him and placed both hands on his jawbone, unable to see another part of his body, and pulled up. His neck stretched and she gasped, almost letting go. "W-Wha?!"

"See, I'm rubberman!" he laughed. She pouted and dropped his head, which banged against the wooden barrel.

"Rika, get out now. They are coming." Zora stated with a harsh tone. The little girl dropped her napkin and raced back to the fence. She slowly climbed up and by now, the marine was making his way into the courtyard. Her legs went over the rock, and she climbed down by the ladder.

Neither of them said a word as the marine patrolled the area. "I could have sworn I heard something..." he mumbled under his breath as he went back inside.

_'He doesn't remember me.'_ Luffy looked at Zora, and thought back. "Hey, Zoro. If I help you escape, you going to join my crew."

She was called_ 'Zoro the Pirate Hunter'_ by others, but those who knew called her _'Zora.' _Zora opened her mouth, "You want me to become a bad guy? Not a chance."

"Why not?"

"Pirates are scum of the world. Why would I want to be one?"

"It doesn't matter. Everyone already thinks you're an evil demon."

"I don't care what they think about me. I've never regretted doing anything in my life, and I will survive this and do what I want."

"And I already decided you're going to join my crew."

"YOU CAN'T DECIDE THAT!"

With that taken care of, Luffy rested his neck and fell asleep in that position. Zora scowled at his unmoving body, if only he would drown faster.

...

"Idiot! Wake up!" Zora grunted.

Luffy moaned as he moved his head from one side to the other. He took a deep breath to yawn, and water started to fill his mouth. He spitted it out and held his lips above the water. If it weren't for Zora, Luffy would have drown in his sleep.

"It's morning already? Man, I'm hungry," the boy complained.

"You're about to drown, you know."

"And I"m hungry," he paused and strained his eyes to the fence, "That girl's back."

"I brought some more riceballs for you..." she mumbled as she once again unfolded a napkin from her pocket.

"Can you try to knock over this?" Luffy questioned, "Or untie Zoro's ropes? That way he can escape."

"They are going to catch her for even talking to us. Who knows what they will do if she helps us to escape," Zora firmly stated. "And if she doesn't leave now, she's going to be caught."

The girl didn't listen to Zora. She was listening to Luffy's advice. But the barrel was too heavy and hard for her to knock over, so she started to loosen Zora's ropes. She gotten one hand free, but Zora told her to freeze. The door opened once more, and a marine came out to checkup. Rika was hiding behind the large barrel, her her head ducked between her knees.

"You all are still alive?" he questioned out loud. He looked at the surrounding walls, but it didn't look like anyone was there. "Helmeppo-san wants to met with you later, Roronoa Zoro. Be ready." The marine did a quick sweep of the surrounding and went back in.

Something told her it wasn't going to be a good thing. "Rika, press on the barrel with your back," Zora ordered. Last time, she was doing it will her hands. The girl obeyed, and it came an inch off the ground. Water began pouring out of the barrel, making it lighter. Luffy's body shifted and leaned on that side, and soon the barrel knocked down on the ground. The water was adsorb by the ground within seconds. He smiled and began wriggling his way out of the barrel. With some help from Rika, he was able to stand up.

"Thanks! Now I gotta get these cuffs off...and you need your three swords."

Zora's eyes widen. This idiot barely knew her name, yet he knows of her swords.

Luffy, while walking with handcuffs on his feet, was one of the hardest things ever. He fell down on his knees and began crawling, it was making more progress than it was taking steps. The door opened, and he wiggled inside.

"Go to your mother, things are going to get out of hand soon."

The girl was still trying to undo the other knots, but it wasn't working. "Onee...don't die..." she left finally and Zora sighed. Whatever that guy was doing was gonna be dangerous. There was no way she was going to stand there are die.

_/ / / / _

_Two little girls fought on top of a hill. Their swords clashed and one of their swords broke in half. She fell back into the grass as the taller one pointed the tip of her wooden sword at the minor. "My 2001th victory!" Her sword thrust into the ground right between Zora's neck and shoulder. _

_"Dammit!" the smaller one cursed. Liquid gazed her eyes. "I was so close!"_

_"The one who should be upset both of us. When we go up, we will graduating become weaker than males. Unlike you, I'm already starting to become weak. You want to become the World's Greatest Swordsman, right? Papa said girls never become number one, but I want to become the World's Best too."_

_"That's unfair! You said that after you beaten me! That's why we have to fight harder! Harder than any other male! So if one day I beaten you, not because I trained hard, but you grew weak?!" She lifted up the sword and stared at the blue haired girl. "Let's make a promise! One of us must become the World's Number One Swordsman! It's going to be a race to see who gets there first!"_

_"Stupid Zora! You're the oen who lost to me, not the other way around!" Kuina grinned, "I promise!"_

_..._

_"Zora-san...something terrible has happened. Kuina...some thugs beaten her up on her way to the next town..."_

_"What's wrong with her?!"_

_"She's...unable to move any part of her body."_

_"B-But we just made a promise last night! To become the Greatest Swordsman! This can't happen to her!"_

_Zora looked up at her Teacher, Kuina's father. "Zora, humans are really fragile beings. An accident from decades ago can still restrict a healthy person today."  
_

_"Sensei! Please gift me with Kuina's sword!" She bowed her head to the ground as tears swelled up._

_"Yes," he stated calmly. _

_"I WILL BECOME EVEN MORE GREATER! I WILL BECOME THE WORLD'S GREATEST SWORDSWOMAN! SO FAMOUS THAT EVEN HEAVEN WILL HEAR MY NAME!"_

_/ / / / _

The keys were no problem to find. They were stationed along a wall with handcuffs for fast arrests. He leaned against the wall and edge his way back onto his feet. His hands reached out and he grabbed the keys, dropping them onto the ground. Luffy bent low and grabbed the metal items once again, turning them into the handcuffs that surrounded his feet.

Klang.

Clang.

Cling.

Clank.

All of them were unlocked, and now he was free. He had to find Zora's swords. Which would be...in Helmeppo's room. The one with the pink door. He raced up the steps and down the hallway, he halted once he passed the pink door, retracing his steps he came in front of it. He turned the doorknob and looked inside. Helmeppo was looking into the mirror as he was picking out his outfits. "Today's execution gonna be great!" he chuckled. "Zora's not going to know what hits her!"

Luffy's hand stretched and smacked the blonde right in the jaw. He held onto the spot and looked at Luffy. "So I did go back in time..." he mumbled under his breath.

The wimpy man shivered and raised his arms to protect himself. "Y-You hit me! But I'm Captain Morgan's son! I-I'm gonna tell my daddy on you and he will execute you!"

"Where are her swords?" the rubberman demanded.

Timidly he pointed at the three swords by his dresser. "There! Don't hit me!"

Luffy hit him again. This time was a little harder that caused him to get knocked out. "Ops. Guess I'm stronger than then." He left Helmeppo on the ground and went to the window. Marines were surrounding Zora and the little girl was no where in sight. Even Captain Morgan was there. The marines were around Zora, ready to take and execute her.

Luffy opened the window and Gum Gum Rocket jumped out of it, landing right in front of Zora. "You really do have a devil fruit..."

"Hey, Zoro. If I give you your swords, you going to join my crew. Unless if you want to be killed by marines. Which do you chose?"

"Blackmail..." she grumbled under her breath. "I rather become a pirate than die by their hands." She used the sword and slice the last remaining rope. She lowered onto the ground, all three swords were in her hands and one in her mouth, "But let's get one thing straight first, today I'm opposing marines, making me into a criminal, so I'm becoming a pirate to follow my ambition. I don't care rather my name is clean or not, as long as my name will become famous. To be nothing less than the World's Greatest Swordswoman." She made eye contact with him, "If you do something that ends up in the way of my goals, you will apologize to me by the end of a sword. Alright, Captain?"

"World's Greatest Swordswoman sounds good to me," Luffy smiled. "Anything less than the best to be on the Pirate King's crew." Zora simply replied with her signature smirk.

"Don't stand there! SHOOT!" Morgan ordered, "You idiots!"

Bullets sprung from their guns, all of them were aimed at Luffy and Zora. Luffy smiled and stretched his body around the swordswoman. Their bullets halted as they were no chance against Luffy's rubber.

"What are you?"

"I'm Luffy D. Money, the next King of the Pirates, and the Rubberman!" He chuckled as he went back into his normal form. All of their shocked faces entertained him. He missed this, usually his enemies already knew of his powers and the shock wasn't there.

"I-I told y-you he was a Devil Fru-" one of the marines uttered as he shivered. He was looking down at his feet, and within a moment, another gun shot, a body laid on the ground. Luffy's arm sprawled out and smacked Morgan right under his neck. There wasn't enough force to kill him, but enough to make him fall back and take a breath.

The two made eye contact once more, an conversation played between them, ended with Zora nodding and charging forward. Her sword was met with Morgan's battleaxe for an arm.

Luffy could personal knock them all out with one sweep, but he kept them at bay while Zora battled against the Marine Captain. From past encounter, he knew that he shouldn't harm these marines, specially after what Morgan displayed by shooting his own men. He shrugged and maintain a safe distance away from them and Zora's battle.

Their blades clashed, but Zora's extra one made the deal. In one swoop, he was defeated by her hands. The other marines dropped their weapons onto the ground. Not even daring to fight once their own captain was defeated.

"Captain Morgan...he was no match for Zoro..."

..

They rejoice in the pub. Rika's mother, thankful for her daughter's wellbeing, forgave Luffy for his dash earlier. And with her daughter's savior saved from execution, their meals were on the house.

"I was getting worried when the marines began announcing your execution..." she said as she sat down a plate in front of the Pirate Hunter. "But now it's all over. I don't have to worry about my little Rika so much! The whole town indebted to this duo."

"Eh, we didn't do nothing," Luffy simply told her. "If it wasn't for her, I would have drown."

'Drown?'

Zora looked across the table at this odd person. The bandana was now tied to her forearm, and her short curls of green hair went from one place to another. She brushed one side back behind her ears; which came back within seconds. She leaned forward with her arms on the table, "How many do you have on your crew?"

"Was eight, but for now, you're the only one!" He gave her an idiotic smile, but she was more or less wondering it he was just an idiot or an inmate from an insane hospital.

"...so it's just me and you?"

"Yup, until we find Usopp, Nami, Sanji, Broo-" He was going to list all of his crew members, but Zora stopped him there.

"What about your ship?"

"Usopp has it."

"What have you been sailing in then?"

"A fishing boat," he pointed out the window where the docks could be seen. His small fishing boat sat limply as if ready to break.

Zora threw her head back and laughed. What the fuck did she get herself into? It's already too late too turn back down, she could only go along with him until their paths divide. "Won't be much when you're on the Grand Line."

"Just wait and see," he gave her a giant grin and thought about the Sunny and Merry. Now that he has Zoro, what happened after he gotten Zoro? He tried to remember an event that happened so long ago. He knew Nami was next, but where did he find her?

"Yo, Luffy? Something wrong?" she leaned over the table and raised one of her eyebrows.

"I'm just hungry," he replied.

"There's no more meat," Rika said. "You ate it all already."

"Guess we should go then."

"Yeah, before Helmeppo wakes up."

Zora and Luffy stood up from their seats at the table and pushed the chairs in. Zora's swords shifted in the green haramaki around her waist. They two of them walked out where they were meet with numerous marines and villagers. "We're already leaving," Luffy uttered and walked through the crowd.

"We are grateful for what you have done, but you ha-" He paused in mid-sentence. They were already leaving without much resistance. "We won't report this to the headquaters!" He yelled, but they were already walking down the street.

The two folded their arms behind their heads and trotted to the dock, the marines were still following them. Zora looked out into sea; it didn't look like they brought any superiors with them. The black haired boy picked a fishing boat that seen better days. It wasn't much, but it was better than the ones she has been sailing in. At one end of the boat was a barrel of apples with a rough blanket on top. _'He's not even prepare to be a pirate...'_ she thought.

"Bye Rika! Marines I don't care about! Rika's mom! Fruit merchant!" Luffy waved them goodbye.

"YOU STILL HAVEN'T PAID ME!" the fruit merchant squealed.

Someone behind him smacked him on his head; his wife. "They just saved the island!"

The marines crowded around the shore and saluted them as their boat drifted between the waves. "Never thought I would see marines saluting pirates," Zora smiled and chuckled; this boy was a different kind of pirate alright.

Luffy joined in with her.

...

The two of them were at sea on the small vessel. Luffy's legs were stretched out and his head was hanging outside of the boat. Zora folded her arms behind her head as a pillow and quickly fell asleep. The blanket was in the middle of the boat, only able to cover their legs and not much else. Her haramaki and swords were at her side, tangled around one of her legs; and bandages were loosen as well.

They slept peacefully on their first night together.

As they drifted off into their dreamlands, something kept bugging Luffy. Why doesn't Zoro remember him? Where are the others? Do they remember him? And why did he wake up from here out of anywhere?

He didn't want to think about it, but it bugged him. It seemed like he time traveled back to the starting point.

Maybe this time it will be different.

**Zora or Zoro? Well, Zora is hiding her gender (get to that later), so she's getting called Zoro by others. Those who know she's a girl (Rika and Helmeppo) calls her Zora. Will Luffy call her Zora? Nope.  
**

**Why Zora? Very simple actually. In Spanish, the names that ends with -a are feminine, and those with -o are for males. And other choices for names starting with Z's were long or too modern (Zoey).  
**

**Origin of Zoro: He gotten Roronoa from François l'Ollonais (a french pirate). And some said, Oda was inspired by 'The Mask of Zorro' that he named Zoro after him (some believe Zorro was suppose to be his true name, but they changed it because of trademarks). In the Japanese Language, L's and R's are irreversible, which is how Zolo (4Kids) and Zoro came about. There would be a possible that his name would be Lolonoa Zolo (as well as the others being named Ruffy, Flanky, and Lobin). They ended with Roronoa Zoro (because it sounded badass).  
**

**Also, he was first planned to be Buggy's bodyguard. Oda described Buggy's crew as a family unit, and Zoro would be the elder brother (which is also the same in the Strawhats).**

_**This is all rumors I have read when I was searching for other name opinions (but I'm going to do it for all of the crew). Thought it was cool, so I posted it. **_

_**I do not own One Piece, I barely own a pack of gum as it is. **_

_**I am not doing details on fight scenes (everyone already seen them). Any feedback would be very helpful.  
**_


	4. Orange Town

Using the end of the blanket, Zora soaked it into the water and scrubbed her arms and legs. She could still seem the musk from being tied to a post without taking a break for three weeks. The grub started wash away slowly. Now her tanned skin was actually her skin tone and not darker than it was. The girl was lucky Rika and her mother tended to her clothes. The black stains from before were barely there. And the stench was now only herself, who hasn't had a proper bath within a month.

"So you're becoming Pirate King? Any reason?" Zora questioned as she lowered her pants leg down.

Luffy pointed to his strawhat. "Made a promise to form an amazing crew, find One Piece and become King of Pirates." The tip of his finger felt against the straw.

"Same here. Made a vow to become World's Greatest Swordsman no matter what to a friend."

"I'm hungry," the strawhat wearer moaned after a few moments. As soon as he said that, a growl came from his stomach.

She leaned her head bewards, outside of the ship, and stared. "How long until we get to an island?"

"Nam- whenever the waves take us," he shrugged his shoulders. "Guess we've to fish and wonder until then."

"If you're going to be a pirate, shouldn't you know some navigation at least?"

"That's why we gotta find a navigator..." He paused and looked at the sea, "if we find an island."

Zora chuckled and loosen her bandages. With the pace they were going, there was no need for her to maintain her fake gender. "How do ya suppose we fish?"

"String from the blanket."

"For a hook, we could use a nail from that barrel," she added. She stood up and bent over the barrel, and loosen the nail out of the barrel. With a little too much force, the nail popped out and dropped onto the bottom of the boat. It rolled under the seats, back and forth, from his side to her side. The two of them scrambled their hands and searched for the loose nail. "There it i-!" The nail rolled back under Luffy's seat. He stood up and reached under. A shadow flew pass them, but neither noticed. They were too busy catching the nail than anything.

"Got it!" He held up the metal nail and gave his almighty grin. Zora smirked and took the nail back. She unsheathe one of her swords, the weakest out of the trio, and started sharping the end. She bent the end, and made a hook.

Luffy rubbed his thumb against the rough fabric, causing the thread to move about. He chose one random thread and pulled it out. Zora quickly caught the end and held onto it as Luffy broke it off from the other threads. "One line and hook complete," the green haired smile and looked at the handcrafted fishing rod- without the actual rod. "Hopefully these fishes are dumb enough to fall for this."

"No apple cores either," Luffy rubbed his head. "Guess we can't use bait."

Doubt started flooding in as she looked at the string that could barely hold anything under 4 pounds. "Can't you just punch something out of the sky or something?"

He looked overhead and there were no bird or beast in sight. The only thing that filled the sky was the shining sun and a single cloud. He stretched his arm out and it all coiled together in one large pile. He threw his hand in and imminently felt the power draining away. The woman took a hold of his arm and waited. "I think I got something."

The green haired nodded and whipped the arm out of the sea. Eight fishes were biting along her arm. Drool began to form. Within moments, the arm was wrapped back inside of the boat. Without much care, the two began picking the fish off of the arm. Each ending up with four. Without any preparing for the catch meat, Luffy started his small feast. Zora slowly followed behind.

"Zoro, do you think we will find an island any time soon?"

"Hm...not if we followed that cloud," she pointed up to the sky.

Once again, something tugged on his memory box, but it didn't come unlock. He nodded and placed his hands on the oars. After placing the blanket, failed fishing rod, and other junk back into the barrel, the two rowed after the cloud. With no other cloud in sight, it was easy to track this one. The more excited they've gotten about finally getting on land caused them to row harder; they even managed to pass the cloud. Now they were sailing whichever way the boat was facing.

The boat hit something and flew over a few meters. The girl stopped and looked behind, to see if they caught any food. Instead, it was only three men doggy paddling in the sea.

"Help!"

"Let us on!"

"We aren't stopping! Better grab on!" she called back with a laugh. She held on to her paddles again and made eye contact with Luffy. The two of them grinned as the three swum near the boat. They started paddling once again, keeping out of reach of the three males.

Finally, the two stopped and the three males came headfirst into the boat. "Ouch!" one of them moaned as he rubbed his head. The other two, a bit smarter, stopped in time and held onto the boat. They all climbed in and stared at the two pirates. "That wasn't much help."

"We could always leave you," Luffy shrugged.

"Hu-...About your boat..."

Zora's glare stopped them from even trying to take the boat. They gulped and held their hands up in defeat.

"So, which way to an island?"

The bigger male glanced back at his other two mates. "You were lost?!"

"Better head us to an island, unless if you want to stay here." She crossed her legs and tilted her head at the three of them. They gulped once again under Zora's gaze and took hold of the paddles. With all of their forces combined, the three of them paddled through the sea and finally an island was in sight.

"You're Z-Zoro the Pirate H-Hunter, r...right?" one of them questioned.

"That's what they call me," she shrugged.

Once again, they gulped and sweated in fear, "A-A de-demon..." one of them whispered. The other two shivering in fright. They were leading the biggest Bounty Hunter right to their captain on that island. It was already bad enough their ship and their treasures got taken over by some guy.

The boat hit against the sandy beach, and all of them were thrown out of it. The Swordswoman took a hold of her swords and without any words, the three ran away.

"They must be in a hurry," Luffy stated. He grabbed his strawhat that laid on the ground, and placed the string around his neck. He stood up and looked at the city right when a flash appeared over a line of houses. The flash disappeared, as did the top halves of the houses.

Zora was turned around as she tighten her bandages around her chest once more, and her haramaki. "Looks like someone's having fun."

"Oh yeah!" Luffy yelped. In a flash, he was already gone.

The green haired girl's eyes widen and she took off after him. She had no clue what has taken over him. They ran throughout the rows of houses, some of them were without roofs, and made it to the square.

"I found you! Nami!" Luffy smiled in delight. "Why are you in a cage?"

An orange haired male sat cross-legged inside of a metal cage. He wasn't as skinny as Luffy, but he have many muscles either. A pair of sunglasses sat on his forehead, one side was broken from a fight beforehand. His ears had a shiny stud that glowed when the sunlight hit it. His orange hair was short but longer than Zora's; the front of it curled and covered his forehead and eyes. He stared at Luffy as if he just walked in on a murder taking place.

A clown was several meters in front of him. A key was in his hand as if he was gloating, but he quickly pocketed it away once he saw the visitors. "The two of you dare to stand in front of me? Buggy the Clown? Have you not heard of my name? You should be bowing in front of my flashy stance!"

"Oh! Hey Buggy!" Luffy waved.

"You're still not bowing!"

"Hey Luffy, you know this guy?" Zora pointed her thumb at the Red Nose Clown.

"Yup! Long time no see!"

"Who the hell are you?!" Buggy's nerves finally melted.

"Guess you don't remember me. But you will, because I'm going to be the King of the Pirates!"

"You don't know who you are talking to, kid!"

"Yeah I do." He shrugged and Zora finally walked up the steps and stood behind him. "Yo, Zora, could you cut the cage?" He pointed over to the imprisoned orange haired male. Zora was about to follow her pirate's orders when Buggy's shouts halted her. Niko

Buggy grinned, "You're Zoro the Pirate Hunter!" He chuckled, "You two came for my head!"

"Not interested" she stated with a shrug of her shoulders, "Just came because of him." She pointed to her captain. "Luffy, these are iron bars. We need a ke-"

"Heh! What a small flashy detail that no one would miss! If I kill you, I will become more famous!"

"Watch out! He has a devil fruit!" Niko, the orange haired man, yelled out. This seemed like the only chance he had to get free, as the Buggy Pirates already decided he could be dead. He slide to one side of the cage and looked around, and gulped once a lion's face came into view. The giant pink lion stared into the cage as he licked his lips. '_I'm going to become Lion food!'_ He slide to the other side. Mohji hopped on top of the cage and grinned at his tamed beast.

"Got something else to said?" the Beast Tamer questioned.

"No worries," Zora pushed it to the side. She unsheathe her swords and charged forward at Buggy. With numerous slices, the pirate was down. He was sliced into squares. "That's it?"

"He's not done!" Luffy called out.

"What do you mean?" she questioned. She took a few steps back and watched as the pirate regrouped his pieces back into one.

"I ate the Bara Bara no Mi, so now I'm a splitting man!" Buggy grinned as he thought Zora was frowning because she was afraid, but more so that was her usually face. "Swords don't work on me!"

"Guess I have to make them!" Zora tried once again, cutting Buggy into different slices. First with his head then his chest. But as soon as the swords left, Buggy reconnected them.

"Better luck next time!"

He drawled out his dagger and it clashed against Zora's sword. His other hand disconnected and went to her side. The dagger flew out of his hand and back into his disconnected hand. With one thrust, the dagger pierced Zora's side; something she wasn't suspecting. Crimson soaked her haramaki the dagger pierced deep. She dropped to one knee. Buggy retracted the dagger and chuckled as the woman was now kneeling to him.

"It may not be critical since I missed the organs, it's a serial wound. Which means, I'm the winner!" Buggy chuckled as his head went back and his pirates joined him. Zora winced in pain as she tried to close the wound with her bandana.

"I let my guard down..." she mumbled. '_I'd even knew he eaten a devil fruit...but I was careless..."_

The male in a blue and white striped shirt looked down at his lap. '_The situation worsen...yet I can't get out of this crappy cage...All three of us are going to be lion food...'_

_'It still happened...'_ Luffy thought as he tilted his head. He glared at the Clown Pirate. "That was a cowardly move, Big Nose!"

"You could have say anything but that!" Niko excited.

"BIG NOSE?! WHO'S GOT A BIG NOSE?!" Buggy used the same dagger and threw it at Luffy's head; in which he swiftly caught the blade with his fingers.

"I'm tired of you already," he yawned, "Well, this should be quick."

"As if I'm going to get defeated by a rookie! Unlike you, I have more tricks up my sleeve than you think!" He gestured to the cannon behind him.

_'He's going to use the Buggy Balls. I'm going to die...'_ Niko grumbled and looked at his lap. If only he could escape, but Buggy had the key in his pocket. He side glanced at the lion, who was now drooling. "Hey! You want a piece of me?" He taunted the large animal. '_Hopefully this works...'_

Mohji jolted up as Richie clawed at the cage. "It's well past your feeding time. Guess a little snack couldn't hurt." The lion grinned and showed all of his sharp teeth to Niko. The male gulped and waited for the lion to break through. His claws only weakened the metal bars, but after getting impatient, he took a large bit and crushed the cage. He smashed a ball to the ground and dust appeared surrounding the cage. He climbed out of the wreck and away from the beast and his tamer by jumping down to the square.

Now, it's time for a flashy finish!" He took a few steps to the cannon in the middle of the square, turned it to Luffy, and lit the end.

"Oh fuck!" Niko, the orange haired man, cursed out loud. The other two weren't far away from him, so when that cannon strikes, he was going out with it. He needed to get away faster, so he sped behind the houses.

Luffy trotted in front of it and kicked it over, aiming at Buggy's crew. They all gulped, and before it was too late they raced away. In a quick second thinking, Cabaji used the unknowingly lion as a shield. "Richie!" the Beast Tamer cried.

"You harmed my men!" Buggy glared at the rookie.

Buggy unsheathed a small dagger from his belt. "You dare to oppose me and harm my men." He charged forward and slashed Luffy's shoulder, as he was able to dodge most of the attack. Cabaji threw Richie to the side and hopped onto his Unicycle. He raced down the steps, looking for the male that just disappeared moments ago.

The captain separated himself into pieces, which was a great mistake. "Gum-Gum _Gatling Gun_!" His arms stretched and instantly hit against the air and Buggy's body parts. As the aged pirate tried to escape, he would only get punched by Luffy's speedy punches. The move finally ended and Buggy restored himself to his former glory. He wiped his chin and looked at the rookie. "Interesting skill there, but it's no match for me!"

"Another Devil Fruit user?" Niko gasped as he peeked around the corner; as did others on Buggy's crew. Other than their own captain, they never saw another Devil Fruit User. They were so uncommon in the East Blue, that most believed them as myths. "It's like nightmare..."

Buggy spread his hands and they darted through the air. Dashing up and down, but Luffy grabbed a tree and dodged it. While he was there, he trailed back and shoot through the air. "Gum-Gum Pistol!" Buggy's body parts jumbled onto the ground as he wasn't ready for a rebound. Luffy quickly grabbed several of the body parts and held them.

When the old fool tried to reassemble, he ended up looking like a dwarf. His forearm, waist, knees, and other parts were all tangled together in Luffy's hands. "Here!" Zora threw ropes at Luffy. She groaned and held onto her side as she battled against the lower ranked members. Mohji was still nursing Richie as the others were taken off one by one.

"Thanks," he grinned and started tying the parts up. He made eye contact with Buggy and threw the bundled body parts into the sea.

"Cruel," Zora commented.

"NOO!" Buggy shouted as he ran to the shore. His crew followed behind him like lost puppies. His Firstmate and Secondmate were having a glaring battle as they reached the shore; their captain already jumped into a boat.

Niko poked his head from the corner and smirked. Those two settled the Buggy conflict, now he had all of their treasure to himself. He whipped out the keys and turned around to head to their treasury. And here he thought he would have to act like a Buggy Pirate for at least a week before taking his treasures.

_/ / / /_

_"So, a new recruits," Buggy looked over his cup of ale. "Why should I let you join my flashy crew?"_

_"I have excellent navigation skills of all of the East Blue."_

_"I already have navigators, kid. And they are all flashy!"_

_He gave the pirate a sly smile. "I have studied all my life. You haven't seen any of my fine works."_

_"Well then," he leaned over. His arm shifted on the armrest. "One can never have too many crew members!"_

_"Let's have a feast!" A dark-skinned boy raised his ale to the sky. _

_"Cheers!"_

_"What's your name, kid?" Buggy gave him a wild eye. _

_"Niko."_

_…_

_'It was too easy', he thought. Pirates were so simple minded and easy to fool. And it kept getting easier and easy as the alcohol spread throughout their bodies. It has only been an hour, yet they treated him as one of the crew. _

_If only they knew. _

_He searched around the crew, looking for their weakest point. But with them all intoxicated, they all were on the same level. _

_Sea charter._

_It was easy as that. One of the pirates, who just entered the feast from their treasure hunt, sat down and gulped ale. In his pocket was a folded piece of paper. Who knew what secrets were inked onto that parchment. _

_"Drinking contest?" Niko questioned as he held up his cup of sake. _

_The mischievous pirate rose his glass and gave him a petulant wink. "You have no clue that you're facing off with." He chuckled as one of the pirates filled their cups to the brim. _

_The refills kept coming until the languid pirate knocked over and fell onto the ground. The slip of paper lay underneath him. _

_As cunning as Niko could be, he grabbed the folded paper from the ground, slipping it into his jean pockets. _

_"You're not only a navigator, but a thief as well," Buggy's voice came from behind him. The boy gulped and slowly turned around. It hasn't even been a day, yet he was caught. "Boys, thrown our little friend in the cage! Let's show him how flashy Buggy Pirates are!"_

_They all cheered together and grabbed Niko as if they haven't been bonding for the last hour. Captain's orders always came first. "Been awhile since we seen a display!" _

_Buggy took out a cannon from a rack and loaded it into a cannon, in which the chore boys sat out in the middle of the square. His Firstmate positioned it to a row of houses as Buggy showed the rookie his power. "This is what I like to call Buggy Ball!" He swiped a match on the carton and lit the string on fire. He took a few steps back as the Buggy Ball launched._

_A whole row of houses were destroyed. _

_"Now, you're going to see a firsthand flashy experience!" The clown turned the cannon onto Niko. _

_/ / / /_

"Where do you think you're going?" Zora smirked as Niko jumped back. This was the person Luffy went out of his way to save. Must be someone important at least.

"I'm going to my house."

Luffy jumped down from the roof and stared at his navigator. "Hey Nami, I didn't know you lived here."

"That's not my name! It's Niko!"

"Oh. I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Roronoa Zoro," the green haired girl added. Zora tilted her head; chagrined at Luffy's choice of a navigator. The orange haired looked faint and dour. "Luffy, you sure he's the one you're looking for?"

"Hell yeah. She's our navigator!"

That was Niko's last nerve. He punched Luffy on the head for peeving him off. "First off, get your eyes check. I'm male, if you can't tell, idiot. And I'm no one's navigator." He winced as there were more to that sentence,_ '...except for Arlong...'_

"We need a navigator for our crew," the rubber boy begged. He didn't give a second thought to the gender change.

"I knew it! You're pirates. Filthy pirates. Buggy and you should have just wiped each other out."

Zora sighed and looked at the sky with a scowl, "He doesn't want to join. We can always find someone else."

"Nope, I already decided Nami's gonna be in our crew." Luffy was set on taking Niko as his navigator.

"Niko!" the man punched Luffy's head once again, causing the bump to rise. "We have no more business with each other, so you two can leave already."

"Didn't we just save your life?" Zora uttered with a glint to her eyes. She was pretty certain that the orange haired was locked up in a cage surrounded by bloodthirsty pirates until the two of them gotten there.

"And I'm pretty sure I saved yours too, Buggy would have gotten you. We are equal now."

Luffy groaned, now this was going to be even harder to get Niko on his crew than last time. With a slight idea, he grabbed the keys from his keys and threw them to Zora. "Those are mine!" the boy yelped. Zora, now included onto the plan, took a few steps back as Luffy jumped on the other side of the square. She threw the keys and Luffy caught them. "Rotten pirates! Taking whatever they can when they can!"

"Weren't you doing the same?"

"I steal only from pirates! I'm never lowered myself as low as scumbags like pirates!"

"Let's make a deal! You get these keys back, but you will be our comrade!"

Niko halted and glared at the rubber boy. "As if I would work with the likes of you." He turned around and left the square.

"I thought he would put up more of a fight," the girl added and followed behind her captain. _'It's not like we could trust him after we gave him the keys,_' she added as an afterthought. Blood soaked through the fabric and ran down her legs. "I need a nap..." she yawned.

"I think the villagers are out still, so we can use one of their hou-"

"Buggy Pirates!" An old man ran in front of them. He was padded with cardboard and pieces of metal, like pans and bowls. He had a simple staff of wood and aimed it at the two. "I'm the village's mayor, and...I will protect this city no matter what!"

"We already defended them," Luffy grinned.

"Y-You defeated Buggy and his crew?! B-But..." He leaned over and closed his eyes, moping. "I have failed as a mayor...I couldn't even protect my own village and allowed outsiders to do it...now the village's in ruined because of me..."

Zora leaned against a house and fell onto the ground. "W-What's wrong with him? He's bleeding! We need to get him to a doctor!"

"I just need some sleep," she motioned.

"My house! It's only a block away! I can um... go and call for the village's doctor. They are all sheltered in the hills."

"Thanks Old man," Luffy picked up his Firstmate and dragged her to his simple house. It was only one floor with the basics. The bedroom was in the back, so he laid her over the blankets and placed some towels at her side.

"You can go already," she told him.

"Sure," he nodded and raced out of the house. He scratched his ear and wondered where Niko would be. "...Has Nami always been a dude..?" he wondered out loud. "But Sanji doesn't like guys. They're weird."

He walked down the road and stopped imminently when he saw the pet store. It was undamaged unlike the other buildings surrounded it. "So this is his treasure..." he uttered. He walked inside and looked around. It was a firmly small shop with most of the items inside in great need of restocking. But now there were more left than one simple box that he could only save last time. He turned around and stared at ChouChou. "You're still guarding your treasure. Don't worry, this time nothing's gonna happen to it. At least, not while I'm around." He promised.

Captain bent down and held his hand out. And the dog only growled at him. He took that as _'Get the hell away from my treasure'_ so he stepped over ChouChou and waited outside. He tried once more and reached out the palm of his hand. The dog only sniffed it and sat down in front of the doors. "If you weren't guarding this, I would've taken you as a crew mate." Luffy chuckled at the mental picture of Buggy running away with ChouChou biting his ass.

The dog tilted his head at Luffy's words, and the rubber boy took that as an invitation to rub his head. "You're one tough little runt." He looked around and seen a food bowl filled as the Mayor already been here.

He watched the pirate from the shadows. He only came back for one thing, but he wasn't suspecting the boy to be this innocent for choosing the life of a pirate. The two of them seemed like they were bonded with each other, even though it was the first time they have meet; if you didn't include Luffy traveling back. Luffy laughed as the dog licked his knee; just like a child. The two of them looked blissful even though one of them was scum.

Niko hid back into the shadows, leaving behind his broken sunglasses.

...

He sat in front of the other docked boat and waited for what seemed like forever. He started to nod off, but he seen a shift in the shadows. He half-closed his eyes and waited for the shadow to get closer.

A hand touched his pocket, searching for a piece of metal.

Luffy grabbed the hand and pulled the shadow man into the light. "So we're comrades?"

He lowered his eyebrows and his forehead wrinkled. He could only be so lucky in a single day. "How do you know I'm a navigator..?"

"You are better than I am and Zoro. We had run over some pirates, and they had to sail us here," he chuckled.

"That has nothing to do with me."

"We need a navigator, simple as that."

"I don't believe you. Pirates are fuckin' scum, use anything to cover up their lies. I only look after myself, solo, I don't belong on a pirate crew."

He bit the inside of his mouth, "You don't have to be a pirate, just our friend and comrade."

Niko stared at him. "You barely know me. We met only a couple hours ago."

"I just know you're a good person. Plus I already decided you will be on my crew."

"Is that all you care about? Your crew size? Look! Isn't that your ship? Yet you call yourself a pirate!"

"Just starting out. We need to get our other nakama!"

This was the only way to get the key, he reminded himself. He sighed and looked down at the ground. He could always betray them later. "Fine, I will be your comrade, only because allying me with you, there will sure be profits."

"Sure!"

"I'm gonna regret this..."

Luffy chuckled and stood up, handing over the key to Niko.

...

After regrouping, the three of them went back to the square. All of the Buggy Pirate's items remained; they must have been scared away to ever come back to this spot. Niko savaged the remains before unlocking the door. The Pirates used a part of Townhall as their treasury as they stayed on the island. It was more of a walk-in closet than a wine cellar. Cabinets were on both sides, filled with high quality items.

"There it is," Niko smiled. He grabbed a loose chart from the pile and stuck it in between his sash and his forearm. His precious was finally back after all of the trouble it gotten him into.

The other two grabbed a clothe sack and started loading the bags with it. "This is enough to buy a ship," Zora humored herself.

"The best ones in East Blue are those in the marine," Niko added.

"We'll find the best one. Just wait," Luffy chuckled to himself.

"Does he always do that?" he questioned.

"Better get used to it."

Just who did he exactly sign up with? The orange haired shook his head in displeasure. He knew nothing of these two other than one was a Devil Fruit User, and the other was the infamous Roronoa Zoro. Over a stupid piece of metal, he joined a group of rouges. At least the two knew how to protect themselves, and the leader seems gullible at most.

They filled the bags until the whole storage was empty, and went along their way to the ship. It was enough to fill two bags. Niko carried one, as Luffy carried the other. Zora followed the two out very slowly as she held onto her wound.

"PIRATES!"

"WE GOT YOU NOW!"

"DON"T TRY ANYTHING!"

They were surrounded by angry villagers. Niko gulped; first it was the pirates, now the citizens were after him.

One of them stepped forward, "You guys are the pirates, right?"

Luffy just nodded, "Yup, we the pirates."

"Look what you've done to our village!"

"You Numbskull! Why would you tell them that?!" Niko demanded.

"It's the truth," he gently laid down the bag and looked at them all. _'Guess they aren't mad this time since I didn't knock out the Mayor.'_ Speaking of the mayor, he wasn't anywhere to be spotted.

"Get them!"

All of them decreased the distance between them. Luffy side glanced at his two crew mates, grabbing both of them in his rubbery arms. As an instinct, Niko grabbed Luffy's bag. The rubber boy stretched them too safely, away from the angry citizens. They chased them throughout the alley. Luffy purposely went by the Pet Store, and there the dog was. Sitting in the same spot. But he moved once he saw the others chasing after the trio. He snarled and grunted at the citizens.

"ChouChou?"

'Thanks!'

Niko picked up his pace with Luffy, but Zora hanged onto Luffy's back. The Navigator and Captain carried the bags and Zora, and finally came to their selected boats. Niko hopped on his stolen Buggy's boat, as Luffy dropped Zora in their fishing boat. "They stopped chasing us," Niko observed, while relieved. He sighed and started rowing from the island's shores.

They were out in a distanced when the mayor appeared once more with the citizens, much more calmed down. He was panting and bent over as he took in large breaths. He straightens up and stared at their saviors. "THANK YOU, BRATS! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!"

"TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, OLD MAN!" Luffy replied as he waved.

"He doesn't even know our names," Zora smirked as she leaned against the side of the ship.

"Once we get to the Grand Line, everyone gonna know our names," Luffy countered.

Items dropped to the bottom of the ship. The two pirates turned and gave Niko a questioning look. His mouth was opened as he looked at the clothe sack of treasure. "One of the bags is missing!"

"Oh, I left it on the island."

"You what?!"

"They needed the money to rebuild."

"B-But it was my treasures!"

"And now it's theirs."

"YOU IDIOT!"

"Captain has a point, Navigator."

**Will Luffy ever call Niko his name? Possibly, with time. But now? Nope. **

**Why Niko? I didn't know any other names starting with N, other than Nanny (yeah...). Heard Niko on an episode of Community, and I love names with K in them (Luka), so I chose that. I was searching for N's names (as well as other letters for the rest of the crew), and didn't find anyone that stuck out as much as Niko did. Because it sounds like Nico in Robin's name, I changed Robin's surname.  
**

**Origin of Nami: If you do not know, but in Japanese Nami means "wave". In other parts of the world, it could also mean Wisdom, and Nani (in Hawaiian) means beautiful. She was also based on Oda's eariler works, Ann and Silk, in Romance Dawn; side fact, if Ace was a girl, his name would have been Ann. In 4kids, instead of being '"Cat Burlger" Nami' her Wanted poster name would have been 'Nami the "Navigator"' (sounds badass, right? No one in their right minds would want to face a Navigator [increased sarcasm])  
**

**_I don't own One Piece, if I did, I wouldn't be on this site._**

**_Any Feedback will be helpful. Specially on the character designs and changes._**

**_I'm having a hard time deciding on the summary. ZoLuSan will mostly be an ongoing joke._**

**_Guest: Zoro is indeed a name that strikes fear into people's hearts...and Zolo isn't much so. Thanks for the first review! And I been aiming for updating every Thursday.  
_**


	5. Syrup Village

_May 15_

"Wake up, morons!" Niko's voice woke the other two up from their rests. They leaned up in the ships and looked around into the wide opened ocean.

"What?" Luffy yawned. He stretched his limbs and now he was fully wide awake. "Island! There's the island!"

"We're heading to Syrup Village on Gecko Islands. It's a small inhabit island from south of Shells Town."

Zora, now paying attention, sat up and the blankets fell from her lap. She placed her hand above her eyebrows and looked forward. All she could see was a lousy island with high cliffs on its borders. There wasn't much to be seen on that island; it was only a small village and not even a marine base. "What's there?"

"I thought it would be best if we found a ship here," Niko remarked with a prideful tone.

"Ah, finally some meat!" Luffy moaned as his stomach growled. Ever since he came back to this time, he hasn't eaten his normal share of food.

"And some sake!" Zora added as she rose her hand like a pose. She had an eager smile on her dark skinned face; it was about time she could fulfill her thirst.

"...you guys..." Niko grumbled. They were too simple minded when they had other things to find. "We still need a chef, docto-"

"Musician!" Luffy cheered with both of his arms in the air. Niko sighed, maybe getting through with them was harder than he first thought. These people call themselves a pirate crew, but they had nothing in their disposable other than fighting skills. Even he knew of the great dangers that lasted on the sea.

Gecko Island.

Their two boats docked along the shore. Zora, being ordered by Niko, jumped down onto the sandy beach with a stake in her hand. She stretched and yawned once more, "Been awhile since I been on firm ground!"

"Because you been sleeping all the time!" Luffy chuckled.

The leaves on top of the cliff started to ruffle, and she paused. The stake dropped to the ground, and she held her hand on one of her swords' hilt. Luffy, being caught in the moment, searched the tree line and repeated "Where?" over and over again. His head, much like an owl, turned fully around search for the unseen predator.

Projectiles were shot.

Zora quickly spotted the attacker. She unsheathed her swords and stood her ground. The attacker had a slingshot, and shoot rocks instead of ammo.

"We been found out!"

"Run!"

Three of of the unseen enemies ran away, leaving only their leader standing behind a fallen log. She sweated in fright as the three of them turned and stared at her; expecting something to happen. She lifted one of her arms and declared, "I AM CAPTAIN URIKA! CAPTAIN OF THE URIKA PIRATES! I HAVE A GREAT PIRATE FLEET THAT GUARDS THIS ISLAND! STEPPING FOOT ON THIS ISLAND IS A CRIME!" She pulled a string and the bushes in the bottom of the slope. Cardboard cutouts popped behind the bushes with their weapons painted on to look as if they were readied to attack.

Luffy buckled back in laughter. Tears started to form in the slits of his eyes. He never thought he would see this display again.

Urika, hurt, stepped back and her jaw dropped. "Why are you laughing at the Great Urika?!"

"You're lying," Niko blurted as deadpan as ever. He rubbed his forehead with the index finger, and then crossed his arms. He could have made up a better lie than that.

"Ah! I've been caught!"

"See, you just admitted it!"

"Shots! I did! Bad planning, bad planning indeed!" Urika leaned over her knees and started to sweat more than ever. She gulped as she was the only one left in front of three real pirates.

"She has a bigger ego than Zoro," Niko teased.

"At least she made bigger lies than you," Zora mused.

Luffy's stomach growled, and all of them looked at Urika.

...

Meshi.

Urika pulled up a chair to the booth table and looked at the three hungry pirates. Her long dark nose shifted from one direction to the other as she listened to the newcomers. "So you're looking for companions?"

"Know any musicians?" Zora questioned; mostly for the benefit of her captain. Urika shook her head at the random question. From the looks of it, they needed much more than a musicians.

"Do you know any where to get a large ship then?" The orange haired male asked as he leaned over the wooden table.

This is where Urika's knowledge came into play. She snickered and pointed at the so-called captain of these pirates. "There's only one place where you can find the stuff you want in this village, although it's not a very big ship, but not that small eit-"

Luffy interrupted her, "It's that mansion, right?" He pointed out the window to a large white mansion on top of a hill.

Urika fell out of her chair and smacked against the ground, "I was getting there. The ship belongs to the mansion's own-"

"That sick girl..." Luffy tried to pull her name out of memory, "Kayla?"

The Longnose's eyebrows came together as she stared at the captain, "I was getting to that! And it's Kaya!" She paused and tried to calm down as Luffy ordered another plate of meat, but it only hit her nerves once again, "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"

Niko, paying attention at the chance of treasures, perked up, "If she's sick, then how come she's the owner of the mansion?"

"Inheritance. The girl's parents died about a year ago of a sickness. She was the only child, leaving her with a large inheritance, mansion, and all of the servants." Urika leaned back in her seat and folded her arms behind her head, "She's been grieving ever since. Even if you are really rich, no one is exempted from sorrow."

Niko sighed in defeat. To ask a poor girl like that would only be move a scumbag would make. "Let's forget about searching for a ship on this island, we'll go somewhere else."

"We still got time!" Luffy grinned. Merry's on this island, as was his sharpshooter, Usopp.

"You said you were looking for companions?" Urika questioned; Zora and Luffy nodded. She gave a thumb up with her blue and white armband brushed the tabletop, and gave a cocky smile, "Let me be captain, and I'll join you!"

"Nevermind," Zora and Niko denied in chorus. Luffy chuckled with his head hitting the booth cushion.

"WHAT KIND OF ATTITUDE IS THAT?!" She sighed in defeat and rested her face on the table. The clock ticked and chimed as it hit a new hour. It was exactly time for her to leave, "It's that time again." She stood up, pushing her chair in, and left the restaurant.

"That gal was in a hurry..." Niko muttered.

"Guess she finally figured out we have a captain," Zora added.

Niko narrowed his eyes at the doofball in front of him. After interrupting Urika twice, the captain stayed silent; but he could tell the rubber boy was moments away from causing a fuss if he didn't have his mouth full of food. "Do we even have a captain...?"

"Like him or not, he still has the title," Zora bellowed. He may not be her first choice, but they still joined his crew.

"Which is why I worry..."

The door slammed opened, and three kids burst inside. "Urika Pirate Group is here!" They all bellowed in a chorus. In their hands were wooden swords; they were a gaps away from the strength of Zora's weakest sword.

"Isn't that the three from the slope?" The orange haired wondered out loud.

"Onion heads," Luffy uttered.

"Captain! She isn't here..." the one in the orange hat uttered in a quiet voice.

"It can't be! They are...she's been eaten up!" The blonde stuttered.

"Pirates!" One of the onion heads shouted. "What did you do to Captain Urika! Give Captain back to us!"

Luffy, finished with his cup of juice, took a large bit of his meat. "Yum! What delicious meat!"

"Meat?!"

"H-He ate Captain...?!"

Niko raised his hand and covered his mouth. He couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear from these gullible boys. The blonde one stuttered again, "Wh-What?! What did you d- to captain?!"

Zora leaned her elbow on the table and faced them. She gave them the look that others came to know her as: a demon. "We just...ate her."

It didn't help with Luffy belching right afterwords; the boys passed out. All of them couldn't hold it any longer, and they all three sat back and filled the building with laughter. Once they were calmed down, Niko looked at Luffy, "What now?"

"Make a visit to the mansion."

"Bu-"

...

They arrived to the mansion, and used a back entrance to get away from the bodyguards. There she was, Urika sitting there on the tree branch. Her brown overalls covered her plain white shirt; which caused her to stick out from the tree, and her white slash around her waist didn't help much either. Urika's outfit consists of brown, white, and some blue in her armbands. She was a totally contrast from Kaya. A pale white beauty that rested near the window. A cushion was placed below the window for her to sit and met with the lower class liar.

She held onto a white feathered pillow as Urika told her her tale of great conflict and victory. The plae girl gripped the pillow tightly on her chest and imagined it all playing out in her mind. Urika's tone brought the words to life as the characters danced around and perry with each other.

"Yo! Usopp!" Luffy called.

"Her name is Urika," Niko grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, Nami," Luffy didn't even bothered. Niko stood up on his toes and smacked Luffy across the head. "Alright! Urika!"

The dark toned girl was already paying attention to the fellow pirates, there was no need of them calling her out once more. "Yeah?"

"You're...uh...Kayla!"

"It's Kaya!" Niko and Urika corrected.

"Yeah, Kaya, whatever. We need a big ship!" He stretched out his arms to the size of the old Merry. Niko was, once again, ready to smack the boy on the back of his head; but no matter how many times he publish the boy's blunt personality, it was no helping it. Wasn't Luffy thinking at all about the girl's feelings and weaken state? Yet still bold enough to ask for a favor?

Kaya looked shaken, "Was that...a devil fruit...?" Much like the other two pirates, they never seen a devil fruit user before. They heard old wive tales about them, but this was the first time witnessing it.

"Y-You stretched!" Urika gulped. She was so frighten that she leaned too much on the branch and fell down, hitting her head first on the impact. She rubbed her achy head and slowly lifted her body up to look at the pirates. These pirates were getting scarier every moment.

"Yeah. I ate the Gum Gum no Mi, so I'm a rubberboy. You have a ship, right?"

"Rubberboy? No wonder you could eat so much!" Urika stumbled. It was inhuman to eat that amount of food in the same setting, and it was bad enough left on her tab. _'How much did he eat?! How will I ever repay that?!'_ she thought. At the time, she didn't say anything because of the news of them being pirates made her a bit frighten, and she was more focus on other things.

"What are you doing here!" A butler, in a black uniform, came out and pointed at the lowlifes. Much like Kaya, he was pale as the moon from ending leaving the mansion. His glasses fitted his nose awkwardly, which was more presented when he lifted them up with his palm, and they end up sliding down anyways.

Kaya gave a small gasp and looked at her butler, "Kalahadore..."

"Oh, the butler," Urika's nose rose.

"Kalahadore...these people ar-"

The butler stepped up and looked at the low classes. "Whatever you have to said, can be stated later. Please leave."

"I want Merry."

"No way," he said as emotionless as ever. Luffy sighed in defeat, then he remembered this guy was the bad guy. He didn't have to listen to him, he just needed Kaya to give Merry to them and Usopp can join. Yeah, that's how it went. The butler turned and glanced at the lair, "Urika-chan. You are her, correct? I've heard quite some rumors about you...the villagers have a way of words when it comes about you."**  
**

"Oh thank you!" Urika's ego was as large as ever. Luffy could see this going downhill fast, but he stayed in the same spot as Zora tried to comfort him; thinking he was sighing in defeat from Kalahadore rejecting his favor. "You may call me, Captain Urika!"

"The guards said you have been lurking inside of these gates, bothering Ms. Kaya while she's resting."

"I-I was catching a mole for her! It was loose in the backyard an-"

He gave a small chuckle, "You can certainly lie well. I have also heard about your father, Yasopp, I believe. You're just a filthy daughter of a pirate who came to munch off of Kaya's kind spirit." He lifted his glasses once again, "I'm not surprised you turned out a liar from your birthrights."

"Filthy daughter...?" Urika repeated. The words burned inside of her.

"You and Ms. Kaya belong to different worlds. If you are looking for money, name your price, and we can settle this now."

"Kalahadore!" Kaya's voice screeched, "Apologise to Urika-san at once!"

"There is no reason for me to apologize to this scum. I have only be stating the truth."

"Urika may be a liar, but you are the worst one!" Luffy's temper finally reached rock bottom. He pointed at Kuro and glared at him. Filthy daughter. Scum. Liar. He still didn't know what happened between these two, but Urika shouldn't be treated like this.

Kalahadore turned around and looked at the rookie pirates. His glasses glint in the sunlight, but his gray eyes showed no emotions. "I do believe this is none of your business, pirate. But I will apologize to Urika-chan, for having a pirate for a father, who deserted his family and village. You too probably resent him, don't you? Because he is a idiotic treasure hunter who left his family behind in exchange of chasing his dreams."

"KALAHADORE!" Kaya screamed.

"I'm the only one who can say bad things about my father! You have no right too!"

"Why are you so angry? You should have kept to your usual lies and tell everyone your real father is a traveling merchant, or you and him aren't blood related."

That was the last straw.

Urika thrusted forward and slammed her fist into Kuro's jaw. "SHUT UP!"

Now Luffy knew why he was waiting. He was waiting for Urika to fight for her beliefs.

"So violent! Bad blood runs through you!"

"SHUT UP! MY DAD WAS A PIRATE AND FOLLOWED HIS DREAMS! I MAY HAD A GRUDGE AGAINST HIM, BUT HE'S MY DAD AND I'M PROUD OF HIM! HIS PIRATE BLOOD RUNS THROUGH ME, AND I'M PROUD OF THAT! I'M A DAUGHTER OF A PIRATE!" She took a breath, "He's a brave warrior of the sea, and that is something I'm proud of!"

"Pirates as brave warriors of the sea? That is twisting the truth, little girl. It's because of your bloodline that you enjoy lying and using violence to settle everything. You only gotten close to Kaya-san for her riches."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"No one knows your motive, but being the heir of a pirate is enough reason for me to kick you out!"

"Don't you dare say that!" Urika took a hold of his shoulder and raised her fist.

"Urika-san! Stop! Please! Don't use violence!" Kaya cried from the window. "He's only...protecting me, that's why he's a little extreme."

_'Kuro wasn't fighting back...'_ Luffy thought. He made Urika look like the bag guy here. No wonder everyone else didn't believe Usopp back then. That fact alone made Luffy want to punch the fuck out of the pirate, but Zora held him back.

Kalahadore slapped Urika's hand away, and coldly stated, "Get the hell out of here. Savages like you are not welcomed! I will let you off this time, but next time you will not be so lucky!"

Urika turned her back and began walking away. "Fine, I understand. I will never come back here again!"

The three children of Urika's Pirates stood by the fence and called out to her. She didn't even glance their way.

Before Luffy left, he spitted in Kuro's direction. He knew of the guy's plans, but Urika needed to hear it first. "Filthy pirates," he repeated under his breath as he cleaned his glasses.

...

The sun was already starting to set, but he made it there. On top of the cliff that overlooked the ocean and slope down below. It took him awhile to find the exact spot; how he found it the first time was still unknown. Urika laid under the tree and picked petals off of a flower. The yellow flower came from a flower patch on the other side of the tree. "I am brave... I am not... I am brave...I am not." She kept going until there was only two petals left. She narrower her eyes and threw the flower off the cliff.

"Yo!" Luffy hopped down from the tree.

"AH!" Urika screeched and smacked her head against the bark. "Why would you do that! Ouch! That hurts!" She moaned as she rubbed her head that was covered with her curly black hair. Even if it was in a pony tie, it was still unruly. "How did you get here?"

"I followed you."

"You been watching me?" Her cheeks blushed in embarrassment. She would never do something like that in the presence of a stranger.

"Actually, I got lost and found you again."

She raised one of her eyebrows and sighed in defeat, but she was still blushing. "Did...you hear any of what happened?"

"You kept saying I am, I am not, over and over again. I thought you were stuck in a loop or something." He was blunt honest, but also dumb if he never heard of this.

"You don't know of this? Well, you get a flower and pick the petals, each one you say, 'I do this' and 'I do this not.'" She picked up another flower to show him. It was lighter than the first one. She carefully chose her starting point, "I am Urika. I am not. I am. I'm not. I am Urika. I am not." She looked down and realize that was her last petal. "Uh...I am Urika!" She added quickly and hide the flower from his sight. "You try."

Luffy yanked on a single pastel blue flower. "Uso- Urika will join my cre-"

"NOT ABOUT ME!" Urika shouted. "And I'm only joining if I get to be Captain!"

He picked another petal, "Urika will be captain. Urika will not. Urika's captain. She's not. She is. She's not. She is. Sh-"

"You cheated, didn't you! You counted the petals!"

"Counted?" Luffy tilted his head. He already picked the last petal off. "Hey! You're joining now!"

"I told you, don't do them about me! You pick them for love, uh...and other stuff, relating to you. Not other people." She crossed her arms and sneered at him.

"Eh, I already decided ya was going to join."

"That's too bad! I'm gonna be captain of my own crew if I have to!"

Luffy completely ignored her and changed the subject, "You're Yasopp's son, right?"

"I'm a girl..." she groaned. "And yeah, he's my dad."

_/ / / /_

_"Mom! Dad sent us a letter!" Urika climbed from the chair and hopped to the ground. She made her way out of the maze into his mother's room. The pale woman was lying down with a wet towel on her forehead. _

_"Is that right, honey?" Her weak voice carried throughout the room. The small child nodded excitedly and jumped up on the wooden chair that was placed next to her bed. Banchina was handed the envelope and she broke the end of it, sliding a parchment out. _

_Urika swooshed closer to her mother and glanced at the letters on the parchment. The letters made out words, but she could only read the simple letters. She waited patiently for her mother to read it out loud, but first she read it to herself. The longnose mother carefully scanned the page for any terrorizing details before reading it loud to their daughter. _

_'Dear Banachan and Urikchan, _

_My travels on the Grand Sea has been great. I can't wait to tell you all that I have seen and done. When I started noting them down, I kept running out of pages, and my drunk captain isn't the best to keep around with a opened ink bottle. And just this last month, I gotten my first wanted poster; I couldn't be any more prouder.  
_

_Thank you for talking me into this, my dear. I can never stop smiling when I'm on the High Tides; but I've never stopped thinking about you two angels. How are you and Urika doing? And the village? Has she made any new friends? Once I get back, the first thing I'm going to do is take her out on a range...as long as it's fine with you, honey.  
_

_Love, Yasopp.'_

_Banachina started to tear up at his honest words. "Your father is the bravest man on this whole island, you hear!" She wiped a tear that escaped from her eyelids. _

_"I can't wait until he comes back! I want to hear all about his travels!" Urika grinned as she hugged the torn envelope. Another paper dropped from it. The little girl took it and opened it up. It was her father smiling with his pistol aiming at the camera. "Look! It's dad!" she grinned ear to ear.  
_

_"Of course it is," she smiled as she gazed her husband's face, "Here, pull out the box for me, dear."_

_Once again, Urika hopped back down to the ground and lowered herself to the floor. Her arm reached under the bed and she pulled out a small cardboard box that was missing it's top. The box was heavy for her tiny arms, but luckily, her mother gently placed the letter on top. "Another one for the collection."_

_The black haired girl smiled and raced out the house; running pass the wooden cabinet that held an oak crossbow. _

_That was the last they heard from him.  
_

_Even after Banachina died, there were no word from him. _

_/ / / /_

"Yeah, he's my dad." She leaned against the tree and looked at the ground. She held bad feelings for Yasopp, even though he was her father; and she didn't want anyone to disgrace them. Not even that butler. "How did you know?"

"I met him when I was younger."

"You met him?!" Inside, her thoughts were screaming 'If he was so close, then why didn't he visit me?'

"Yeah. He's look a lot like you."

"W-Where is he now..?" She didn't even know if she wanted to know the answer, but something caused her to ask.

"I dunno! But he's apart of Shanks' crew! He's my favorite out of them all of Shanks' crew!"

"H...how long did he stay there?"

"Eh...I don't know. Felt like a month."

She frowned and picked up another flower. 'He loves me...he loves me not...he loves me...' she thought as she picked out each petal. In the end, she gotten 'He loves me' and once again, she threw the flower stem over the cliff.

"Oh! there's the butler!" Luffy pointed down the cliff to the shoreline.

Kalahadore was standing there on the sandy shoreline talking to an stranger. Urika's ears pecked up and she moved closer to the edge. Even from a distance, their conversation could be heard from there.

The strange blonde nodded, "Sure, I can begin anytime. The Plan is to murder that mansion's owner."

_'Mansion's owner?_' Urika shuttered.

"Accident," Kalahadore corrected with air quotes.

"Alright, Captain Kuro!" the blonde pulled down his hat.

"Stop calling me Captain Kuro. I have gotten rid of that name three years ago. Besides, you are captain now."

The moon rose over them and Luffy tried keeping his eyes opened, but the moonlight made him yawn. It was moments away from midnight, and a new day shall began.

"...C-Captain K-K-Kuro?!" she gulped. "He's a...famous captain who invaded numerous towns...but he was executed three years ago!"

"Looks like he's alive," Luffy pointed out.

"Don't worry, leave the accident to me," Jango smirked to his old captain.

"We have to make it look like she died of illness. I don't think you understand the plan clearly."

"I understand it completely!" Jango urged.

"L-Luffy, we have to get out of here and warn the others! T-They are plannin' on killin' Kaya!" Urika uttered under her breath. She glanced over and Luffy was absorb into watching the moon. "What's wrong with you!"

* * *

_~May 16~_

_~The piece of paper disappeared in thin air~_

_~It was only one of numerous others that covered the ground in a white sheet~  
_

* * *

His eyes shut completely and he fell down the cliff. His head went through the rock, and only his legs remained above surface. She jumped up and looked down at her fallen friend. "HEY! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"Oh, it's only Urika." Kuro looked at the source of the noise.

"You want me to get rid of her?" Jango pointed at the unarmed girl.

He ignored the pirate and looked at the dark skinned. "Did you hear everything?"

"No! What did you say? I don't understand! I can't hear anything! I only got here!"

Kuro lifted his glasses and looked at the ground. "We've been heard."

"One of them already been taken care of," the blonde pointed to Luffy's body. "I think he's dead for sure."

"Luf-! He's dead!" Urika became a nervous wreck in moments. She ran around in a circle and pulled on her unruly hair. "What am I suppose to do?!"

"Urika won't be necessay. Even if she tells of our plan, no one in the village will listen." He looked up in the sky, "I will see you a day from now. You and your crew should invade early in the morning, until then, keep your ship hidden. Don't be too hard on the villagers, and make Kaya's death look like an accident." He smirked and looked at the nervous girl, "Even if you did hear, it will not affect my plan."

Urika glanced back down at the ground, but there was no way Luffy could still be alive. "DAMMIT!" she screamed and raced away from the cliff. "This is terrible! Villagers will be killed. Kaya will be killed. I love them all. I love this village!"

The three little boys jumped into the path and waved at the incoming Urika. "Captain!" They all cheered with enormus smiles. "You're back!"

"Wasn't she with Luffy?" Zora questioned with narrowed eyes.

Niko stated, "She's in a hurry, which means something must have happened at the coast."

If Luffy wasn't with Urika, then something bad must have happened. Zora's instinct kicked in, "Where's the coast?" Before she could get the answer, Urika's shouted and it echoed throughout the village.

"EVERYONE! DANGER! PIRATES ARE COMING! TOMORROW MORNING, PIRATES WILL INVADE THIS VILLAGE! EVERYONE MUST ESCAPE NOW!"

Villagers started coming out of their house and glared at the girl. "This is the last time, Urika. How are we suppose to rest with you always shouting?!"

"It has been years with the same lie."

"GET LOST!"

"Couldn't even wait until daybreak," one of them moaned. It was only several hours past midnight.

"Why can't you be trustworthy like Karahadol?"

"Stop lying all the time!"

"But it's the truth! Even though I like to lie! Believe me! Let's escape now, or you will all be killed!"

Niko watched the display from their spot on top of the hill. "Looks like we should help her...I don't like the sounds of this..." Niko mumbled under his breath. He watched as Zora picked up her weapons and took off into the village. ""Don't leave me behind!" she called out to the swordsman.

"No one said you had to follow," Zora simply stated.

By the time they reached the first house, Urika was being chased away by the villagers. "She's getting chased out of her own village?!" Niko dejectedly remarked.

"Looks like she's heading to the mansion."

"That butler will kick her out again."

Zora jumped in front of the roaring crowd, and with one glare, they were frozen. Niko watched as the villagers backtracked. "Nice special attack there," the orange haired taunted. The green haired shifted her glare onto Niko, but the orange haired had no reactions. She muttered under her breath and sheathed her swords. The two of them followed the dirt path in which Urika followed moments ago.

They two walked along the path and eventually stood in front of the large metal gate. They peeked through the bars and it was chaos. Urika managed to get inside of the yard and raced to Kaya's window; the pale girl currently had tears falling from her eyes. She threw a feather pillow at the dark skinned girl and she fell back onto the hard ground. "Why won't anyone believe me?!" Urika called out.

Before the girl had time to get up, bodyguards came racing from the front of the house. They surrounded the girl and pulled her to her feet; but she was struggling against them. Zora, tired of this display, threw a rock at one of them and he let his grip out of Urika. The girl used this and backed away from them; picking up the same rock and flung her slingshot out. She loaded the aged rock in and pulled back on the string. It launched and smacked another one right in the face.

"Stop this!" Kaya shouted. Her eyes were watery as she could do nothing. She felt betrayed by her only friend, but she never wanted the girl to experience this of all things. Urika was already thrown out once before, and that was only hours ago.

"Kaya! Please listen to me! Leave this village before that butler gets back!" She launched another projectile at the last bodyguard.

"What happened? You're not the person I once knew."

The sharpshooter jumped up to the window and started trying to pull the sickly girl out. "You'll know the truth tomorrow! Let's get out of here together! Please listen to me, Kaya!"

That was it.

Kaya looked at the ground with watery eyes and slapped her ex-friend. "The only wrong person here is you!"

A lamb human appeared, one of Kaya's servants, and held a gun out, aiming for Urika. "Take your hands off Kaya-san!"

"Don't shot!" Kaya cried. The gun was already fired.

She ran.

Her arm bleed and she held onto it as she raced to the fence. "Urika!" Niko called out as he grabbed onto the girl. "Are you okay?!"

"I-I-It's only a graze," she stated. The girl held her head down low as the blood started to darken. She couldn't even protect her best friend. No one believes her; not even Kaya. All of their lives are on the line, yet she can't get them to leave.

Zora leaned on the gate and glanced their way. She sighed and took out a roll of bandages. When she handed them to the bleeding girl, she looked at her with wide grateful eyes. "Why-Thanks..."

"Now tell us what happened," Zora firmly stated. She wasn't use to getting thank-you's from others.

"Karahodore! H-He's gonna attack the village with this group of pirates! They are going to kill Kaya and take her money tomorrow mornin'. No one will believe me b-because I'm a liar. A-A-And that boy! He got us found out a-and he fell down the cliff! H-He died!" By now, tears were flowing down her face. Her body shuttered as Niko laid a hand on her.

"Luffy's dead?" Niko uttered in shock. "B-But's he's rubber!"

"This all happened at the coast?"

"Y-Yeah! I ran away before I was caught, but he fell down the cliff!"

...

"He's alive," Niko claimed. He was bent low to the ground as his hand felt Luffy's heartbeat. "Idiot's just sleeping." He sighed at his captain's stupidity.

"B-But he just fell down! How could he be sleeping?!" Urika pointed to the tree they were sitting by.

Both of the pirates looked at each other and said in a chorus, "It's Luffy." Luffy's body laid down on the ground from Niko and Zora pulling him out. He was breathing calmly, and everywhere else looked good even after falling from such a height. If it was someone else, they would surely die or get brutally injured in the progress; but Luffy wasn't normal.

Niko looked up at the sky and calculated the time. It was only five hours past midnight; and they still had 24 hours to prepare for the pirate attack. "We should think of a plan."

"Warning the villagers isn't an opinion," the swordswoman stated.

"But the truth is still the truth, those pirates are going to come and invade the village."

"Yeah...but everyone thinks it's a lie. That tomorrow going to be a peaceful day like any other." Urika gained her courage and shot up from the rock. She stood proudly, "So I will wait for them! I will make this become a lie. Tomorrow for them will be a peaceful day!" The other two looked at this liar, but knew she wasn't lying for once. She grabbed her arm and sat back down. She was languid and pained as she sat there covered in shadows. "I got shot in the arm, chased by villagers, but it is the village I have been trying to protect. I love this village, and I want to protect everyone. I can't stand it. All of them will be killed without know thing anything."

Niko glanced at Zora and they shared the same thought. This was why Luffy been following her around. "You are a good person after all, and it would be a shame if you end up dead."

"Guess we're gonna have to help," Niko finished; but he then ruined the moment once he added, "Of course, it will come with a price!"

She looked at these two; two people who had nothing to do with her problems. "Eh? You will help me? Why?"

"That's what that idiot been trying to do," he pointed over at his so-called sleeping captain.

"Plus, you're scared because there are many enemies, right? It's only fair if we even the field." Zora only gave a shrug. She may have only joined Luffy a few weeks ago, he was pretty predictable when it came to this stuff; but she couldn't say that about his other odd behaviors.

"Don't be stupid! I'll never be afraid of them! I am Captain Urika! The Greatest fighter of the sea!" As soon as she shut her mouth, her legs began to shake in fright. The other two didn't even move a muscle. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT! They're Kuro Pirates! Anyone would be scared!"

"We did not laugh at you," Zora remarked.

That's when she finally saw their faces. They were determined to help her. They didn't know her, yet they risk their lives. They weren't even involve with this problem, they could have already left and venture elsewhere...but they didn't. "I guess there's no choice."

"Plus, if Kaya-san gets killed, there's no way we could get a ship," Niko added.

Wide eyed, Urika quizzical, "W-Was that the only reason you're helping me...?"

He chuckled, "Yea-nah."

She raised one of her eyebrows and shook her head. She was getting help; that was a good thing. "Okay...they will come to this coast. The path leads to the village, and the rest of the island is surrounded by high cliffs. What are your guys skills?"

"Slicing," Zora claimed.

"Stealing," Niko beamed.

"His?"

"Stretching."

Urika turned around, "My skill is hiding."

"You've to fight too!" Niko and Zora groaned.

"W-We will get to that later. Right now, we have to trap this slope. If we made some trip-wires, they would get stuck...but I can't get anything from the village."

"And they won't sell to us...now," Niko claimed. Not that they interrupted the villager's riot earlier.

"I thought your skill was stealing."

"I steal only from pirates."

"What a skill."

"Is hiding any better?"

"Point taken." Urika gazed around the slope for another plan. "We could borrow some barrels of oil, though."

"Oil the slope? What if one of us gets stuck?"

"Our main objective is to protect this slope. We don't have to fight close combat if we trap them at the bottom. With this, we can stay hidden on the cliffs and attack from above."

Niko repeated his question, "What if one of us gets stuck in the oil?" Urika didn't give an answer.

After borrowing some supplies from the villagers, and avoiding them, the three returned to the slope. Urika and Niko lined the wires across the slope as Zora kept lookout. It wasn't long until he swordwoman was joining her captain in a nap. Their bodies lined up where the shore ended and the face of the cliff began. Even though this, Luffy's body did not move.

"Aim it higher," Urika remarked as Niko was about to pin the stake in the cliff's rock face.

"Like this?" He shifted it higher.

"Yeah." The stake was slammed in, and Urika held her end, "Here, do this one."

"Can't you do it yourself?"

Embarrass, she looked at the cliff; away from Niko's gaze. "You're the only one with a hammer." And the sharpshooter wasn't the greatest when it came to strength. Her plan failed as Niko swiftly threw the hammer inches away from her head. "YOU ALMOST HIT ME!"

"Well, it didn't."

The longnose muttered under her breath and took ahold of the large hammer. She aimed for the stake and as soon as she was about to pound i-

"ZORO!" Niko shouted.

Urika dropped the hammer onto her toes. "OUCH!" she cried out in pain. Even though she got shoot that same day, this was as painful.

"You are suppose to watch! Wake up, lazy bum!" Niko pulled Zora's arms.

Now awake, Zora's voice imitated them, "What the hell do you want?"

"We have been working while you're over here sleeping! You was suppose to be lookout!"

She opened half of her eyelids, "There's nothing."

"We know that!" He kicked her in the ribs, "You're suppose to warn us! Pirates could come! That crazy butler could have already seen us!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever." She stood up and stretched her limbs.

"Well, come on, sun's bout to set." He pointed up to the entrance of the slope.

"It's already been that long?" the dark skinned sighed as she looked at the sun. It took them longer than they thought it would be to get those supplies from the village; and it was already bad enough it was an hour walk between the two places.

"We still have to oil the path," Niko remarked. They heaved two barrels of oil over here from the village, while Urika grabbed the stakes, tats, and wires. The tats were already placed between the oils and the entrance of the path. If the wires didn't stop them, then they would have a harsh time getting to the entrance. Observing the path, Niko added, "Two barrels should be enough."

Zora climbed to the top and heaved the barrel over. Urika and Niko did the same with the other one. She sliced the lid off it, and oil began drooling out from the hole. It poured on the dirt and slowly flowed down the path. The other two were still having a problem with the lid, in which Zora helped by slicing that off as well. The blade was inches away from Urika's fingers. "You manic! My fingers were right there!"

"Can't you be more careful!"

"I was only helping," Zora snorted at them.

The black liquid reached down to the ground, and the two barrel were quickly becoming empty. The slime finally reached the tats, and they moved the barrels to the side so that it covered all of the path. And soon all of the oil spilled out.

Forty minutes after they tossed the barrels to the side, the oil began evening out. Urika helped it the process by shifting the oil with a branch she picked up; as did Zora. All of this brought a huge smile to Urika's face. "This is perfect! They can't climb up this slope now because of the oil!"

"On the other hand, there's a chance we can still slip on this," Niko added.

"There's no way this can't work!"

Something wasn't right, Zora knew quickly. She looked around and it wasn't here. "Isn't Luffy still down there?"

"Wh-?!" The navigator fell to the ground.

"How are we suppose to get him?!"

"You were suppose to watch him!" Niko blamed the green haired.

"I was suppose to watch for dangers, not him," she corrected.

"He's asleep! There's no way he can protect himself! A-And he'll be stuck down there with the pirates!"

"Looks like I've to do everything myself," Niko muttered, "I will be right back with some ropes. Keep an eye out for any dangers...and don't slip on the oil."

As soon as he was gone, Urika did exactly that. She backed up to beam at their awesome teamwork; right into the oil. She reached out, trying to grab onto something to halt her fall, but it the edge of Zora's shirt; which quickly slipped from her fingers. "AHH!" she yelped. Her legs skidded in the oil, and she tripped over.

"Here," Zora took her sword's case and stretched her arm out. "Grab on!" she ordered. Urika pushed her knee forward to reach the swordcase, but she only caused herself to slide farther back down the slope. And she went.

"It's been a nice time knowing you," she grinned at the swordswoman. "REMEMBER THE GREAT CAPTAIN URIKA!"

Her bottom skid down.

It zapped across the sandy shore and away from the docked fishing boats.

And she even reached the ocean.

Her cloths were drench with sea water. It soaked through her overalls, shirt, and she chilled from the coldness on her skin. "So this is how I'll die," she floated in the ocean water. Her thoughts drifted from one thing to the other.

_"Filthy blood...your bloodline that you enjoy lying and using violence to settle everything. Scum."_

_"A girl for a pirate? I would think you could make better lies. HAHAHA!"_

_"Why can't you be trustworthy like Karahadol?"_

She grunted and slapped the water surface. And it ruined her balance, and she fell to the bottom of the shore water. The water drenched her curly locks and her brown cap floated away. She grabbed onto it and placed it back on her soaked head. Sand and oils started coming off her body and mingled with the water. She stayed until her skin shriveled up, but she was now clean of the filth.

Something like this wasn't going to stop her. She was going to save this village no matter what. She may be weak, a liar, but she was a pirate's daughter even if her father wasn't around. She was going to show them.

"Is something wrong with her...?" Zora uttered from the entrance. Her shirt was slipping and the bandages were showing.

Urika trotted back to the beach and called out "CAPTAIN URIKA!"

"Definitely," Zora answered her own question.

The sharpshooter glanced back to the swordswoman. "Eh? Zoro...uh...your shirt..."

She looked down, and indeed the bandages were showing. She pulled her shirt back up and glared at the girl, "Don't say anything about it."

"B- What happened?" she asked with curiously. Then she remembered eariler when this swordsman handed her bandages for her graze. _'Is that why he had bandages?'_

"Nothing," she plainly answered.

"You're hidi-"

"URIKA! YOU IDIOT!" Niko shouted as he raced into the clearing. "I told you not to slip down! Idiot! Now two of you are stuck down there! You are so lucky I found this in the woods! It would have been two hours until either one of you got any help! And you! You should have prevented this!"

"Dumbass," Zora cursed back, "I'm not responsible for what these two do."

Niko glared at the green haired and trotted down the cliff. "Guess I have to do everything," he mumbled under his breath. He unrolled the rope down and Urika tried picking up Luffy. After the second try, the two of them grabbed onto the rope. Zora pulled on the end, and the two slowly came up the cliff. Urika grabbed onto the edge and Niko pulled Luffy from her hands. "Okay. No more going down that hill, okay?"

They all agreed.

...

_May 17_

Luffy opened his eyes and he yawned. In return, he gotten smacked by the navigator. "What was that for?" he groaned as he rubbed his head. That was the worst way to wake up.

"For sleeping all day! We had to do all of the work!" Niko was pissed. He thought Zora was a lazy slacker, but his captain took the whole day off when danger was afoot.

"All day? It felt like an hour," he snickered. "Oh yeah, this again..." He looked down the slope and smiled. "Is this the right one?"

"What do you mean right one?"

"I thought there were two slopes?"

Niko turned and gazed at the sharpshooter, "Is this the right one?" he repeated the question.

"Uh..." Urika itched her head, "W-Well, it's the one...they were talking at a-and I th-thought they would come here."

"IF THEY DON'T I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

She gulped.

Luffy chuckled.

...

It was the right one and Niko was heartbroken. Their boats were also docked down there with all of his treasures. Not only did they forget Luffy down there, but they also forgot their ships.

It was bad enough when Urika offered his treasures. "If you don't attack this village, you can have all of those treasures!"

"Why not both?" one of the pirates smirked. Urika gulped and Niko was pissed.

"If you even dare of thinking of touching that, I will kill you!"

"All of us?" another one questioned.

Luffy, irritated by now, jumped pass the oil spill and started swinging. "If I don't, he will," Niko smirked back. The two pirates who were smirking before, were now cursing as Luffy's fists punched pass. Zora followed her pirate's lead and jumped down pass the tats.

"Is he really that strong...?" Urika glazed from the cliff's height.

"Yeah!" Luffy answered plainly.

"There was a plan though..."

"It's them. They do whatever they want," Niko groaned with the weak girl.

Quickly the pirates were taken care of, and only their captain stood. He smirked as he pulled out his rings. "Look at this rign! When I say One Two Jango, you will become stronger."

Luffy watched as the ring swung from one side to the other.

"All of your wound's will be cured, and you will get stronger and stronger."

"Being hypnotized to get stronger, this is crazy!" Niko claimed.

"One! Tw-!"

Zora's sword raced through the air and the ring broke.

"O JAN-" Jango's ring dropped to the ground. "What! It's broken! Captain Kuro's will kill us."

"Eh? What happened?" Luffy shook his head. He, like the others of Kuro's crew, were in a trance. Urika used this chance and targeted the pirates and launched attacks.

"You were about to get hypnotized," Zora calmly stated, "So I stopped it." She tied her bandanna around her forehead and smirked.

"Oh! Thanks," he snickered and punched Jango onto the ground.

"Heh! Don't worry! I always carry a backup!" He pulled out another ring from his jacket. "One! Two! Jango!" The ring dropped to the ground, "NOT AGAIN!"

Zora slashed this ring as well, but she was a moment too late. The crew, as well as Luffy, was hypnotized. Jango snickered, "ATTACK!"

Archers aimed for the cliff and launched their arrows at the two. Urika dodged, but one was able to slash her cheek. She was hit, and fell down the cliff, to the bottom in the slope. They started to turn and face her with their weapons in hand. She gulped and her slingshot shook. She swooped low to the ground and grabbed a handfill of rocks to fill the pocket, but she ended up dropping them all but small peddles.

"GUM GUM GATLING GUN!"

Luffy's arms swung and knocked the pirates back down to their asses. None of them tried getting back up, not when they were injured once more. Their wounds became uncured, and they felt double the pain. Luffy's hypnotized state also vanished. There was no more ring controlling them, so the power lasted only a few seconds.

"Wait...did he just get hypnotized as well?" Niko questioned.

Urika sighed, she was saved by Luffy's unnatural power. She looked up the slope, and there was no way for her to climb it at this point. The tats and wires were broken from the pirates trying to get up it, but the oil stayed and it spread farther down.

"He finished them all off," Zora stated.

"You brats! You ruined our plan! Now if Captain Kuro heard about this, he will have all of our heads." Jango clicked his chin. Even though this was his last resort, it was a must. "Nyaban Brothers! GET DOWN HERE!"

"There's others on the ship?" she questioned with a blood thirst.

"Our last resort," Jango tilted his hat,_ 'Other than Captain Kuro, himself.'_

"Hey! Everyone's been beaten up." A voice called from the top of the ship.

"We don't have to hide anymore. Shall we go?"

"LET'S GO!"

They jumped down from the ship and landed on the shore. "Did you call us, Captain?" one of them asked.

"Did you see them jump?" Urika gasped.

Jango pointed at the swordswoman, captain, and those two on the cliffs. "Can you take care of them?"

The two began to bicker between themselves, which left Urika and Niko un-pleased. "Weren't they the secret weapons?"

"We are only the ship protectors," the skinny one shrugged. After Jango gave the order again, the two finally agreed and looked at their enemies; and the skinny one aimed for Zora.

"They sent that weakling to defeat me?!" she grumbled. "If you come any closer, I will cut you to pieces!"

"Do it." The man in the cat suit disappeared and vanished before Zora. His cat claws clashed with Zora's swords. There blades met until the cat man jumped away with two of Zora's swords. "You were underestimating a member of the Kuro's Pirates. Is something wrong? Missing?"

'He took my swords?!' Zora's eyes widen. Luffy watched, did something like this really happened before?

Before he knew it, the only cat member trotted over to him. The two had a small fight with Luffy towering over him. "He is weak," Luffy mumbled with distaste. He was frowning until something smacked him from behind. Zora's two swords.

"Shall be began?" the cat man taunted.

"You should take care of other people's swords!" Zora thrust her last sword at the cat man. She raced past him to get to her other swords, but the man wasn't done yet; he jumped up into the air and pounced on her shoulders. She fell down to the ground with him weighing on top.

"Yo! Zoro! Here," Luffy threw back her swords.

"Thanks!" She grabbed them and once again slashed at the man on top of her. He dodged it by jumped up, and she quickly stood up.

"Cat Claw's Technique!" He raced forward and his claws scattered across Zora's body.

"Maybe if I aimed," Urika loaded her slingshot and aimed for the cat man. The rock launched, but inside of hitting the pirate, it was cut in half by Zora's sword.

"Wha?!" she gasped.

"You were about to hit him," Niko claimed. The two of them were above, shooting at the pirates who tried getting up once again.

"Idiot! You want to die?" Zora questioned the sharpshooter. Even with the sword in her mouth, her words echoed through the slope.

"Maybe...he's protecting us?" the navigator reasoned. "Maybe if you attacked, they would aim for you instead?"

Kuro stepped from the entrance of the slope. "It has passed dawn, but my plan isn't in process! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"Finally! I have been waiting for you!" Luffy grinned. His fist grew into massive sizes.

"He can do that?!"

Kuro completely ignored the Strawhat captain. "Don't tell me these brats has stopped you! Are the Kuro Pirates a bunch of weaklings like this? Say something, Jango!"

"You said that kid wouldn't affect our plans, didn't you?"

"Yes, I told you that. So what? Is it that you are weaker than I thought? I don't want to hear any more excuses."

Buji clutched his claws and glared at his former captain. "Did you just call us weak?"

"Buji! Stop!" Jango ordered, but his voice wasn't heard by the cat.

"You shouldn't turn away from an opponent," Zora halted his path.

Kuro smirked and in moments, Buji's clothes was in pieces. "Did you just question me?" Long black claws reached under Buji's chin.

"Black Cat's Claws!" one of Kuro's pirates called out. The former captain was able to sped past the oil spill and appear behind one of the cat brothers.

"Captain Kuro, the plans can't go through," Jango called out.

"What do you mean?" Kuro glanced back. "This plan has been set for three years!"

Jango held up his broken rings.

"It looks like you have no use to me anymore," Kuro shook his head, "You all are weaker."

"GUM GUM NO PISTOL!"

Kuro's glasses fell off onto the ground. His jaw was punched and only left a scratch. "Weren't you dead, pirate?"

"I'm tired of listening to you," Luffy booed.

"Go Luffy!" Niko cheered.

"You should have just stayed dead!" Kuro used his special technique and vanished. He appeared several more times and attacked at random. He was directionless for his heighten speed.

Luffy, knowing well of this attack, stayed still until he came close. "GUM GUM NO RIFLE!" The attack was short distance, and aimed right. Kuro backed away as blood started running down from a scratch on his cheek. "GUM GUM NO GATLING!"

"Kalahadore!" Kaya yelled from the entrance. Tears ran down her face as she watched. "STOP EVERYTHING!"

Luffy finished his attack, and Kuro stood.

"Kaya! What are you doing here?!" Urika yelped.

"Isn't that the girl from the mansion? The goal of this plan?" Jango questioned. He snickered, maybe without his rings, he can still kill this girl. Maybe this plan wasn't ruined totally.

"What a surprise, Ms. Kaya, how can you come here?"

"Meri, he told me everything!"

"So, he's still alive. I thought I already finished him off."

Her pupils widen as she looked at her butler. This man that she knew three years..no, this wasn't the man she knew. "I'm sorry, Urikachan. Anyway, you won't forgive me. I did not believe when you said Kalahadore was a pirate..."

"Don't worry about that! Why did you come? I told you to get away! Don't you realise their goal is to kill you?!"

"But you are fighting! We treated you badly, and you are still fighting for us."

"I told you that I'm the bravest warrior of the sea!"

"Kalahadore! If you want my treasures, you can have it if you leave this village!"

Kuro shook his head, "You misunderstood. I want your money, but I also want a peaceful life." He thought of them and grinned, "The villagers trusted me for three years, and it became a part of my peaceful life. My plan will succeed when I acquire both peace and your treasure!"

Kaya gasped.

"So the accident about pirates, and your will are the most important things in my plan."

"You can't change his mind! Run! He isn't the caretaker you knew!" Urika yelled out.

Kaya pulled out a gun. The same one that shoot Meri and Urika. Even though she believe words were stronger than violence, Kuro wasn't one to listen; so she had to resort to violence. "Leave this village!"

"I have spent these last three years doing stupid things to care for a sick child of landowners. And I have been very patient. Everything I've done is for you, today. The day that I'll kill you."

Urika jumped out and smacked her fist against Kuro's face. He barely winced. "Urika, I still have business to do with you. You did hit me twice."

Luffy's arm stretched and smacked Kuro's other cheek. His arm retracted, "If you don't like to be hit, then I'll hit you another 100 times."

Kuro slowly gotten up and walked to Urika's body. His eyes narrowed as a projectile got caught between his claws.

With a swift kick, Urika was hurled into the slope and the oil.

Luffy quickly attacked. His arm strengthen and pounced on Kuro's stomach. "You shouldn't turn your back!"

"A devil fruit, I believe?"

"I'm a rubberman!"

Urika gripped the cliff's rocky side and pulled herself up. "Kaya! Run!" Kaya only shook in place. The gun was dropped to the ground.

Niko grabbed Kaya from behind, "We have to go!"

"Jango! Kill her!" Kuro ordered.

"Now!" Niko and Kaya started running.

Zora stood in Jango's path. "Not until you get pass me."

Jango reached into his jacket for his rings, but found none. That cursed swordswoman slashed all of his. He grunted and had to use his backup disks. They were cold hard metal without any holes. It was only for throwing.

Within moments, the two gangs fought, and the Strawhats won. Urika started to tear up, "Y-You guys..." she wiped away a tear. Luffy picked both of them up and threw them across the island.

Zora laid down, in the oil, and napped. While Luffy stretched to the top, and helped them both out. "I-I can't thank you enough! You saved my village! Yet...I don't have nothing to offer you..."

"Join our crew!"

She couldn't help it. Tears were flowing out of her eyes as she grabbed onto him. "Yes!"

...

"Merry!" Luffy raced up to the huge ship. "I missed you!"

"Missed?" the others questioned.

Meri, the other servant, only grinned, "It was a fast fix up, but it looks like you are fond of this ship. I call this the Going Merry! Well, I think you already knew."

Zora narrowed her eyes. _'What about your ship?' __'Usopp has it.' _Was this Urika suppose to Usopp? And how did he know the ship's name?

The three boys watched from afar. _'I'm becoming a pirate! This is the end of the Urika's Pirates!'_ Her voice clouded their thoughts. Kaya already told them the truth. While they were searching for their captain, she was saving the village. _'Keep this a secret! Will you promise me that?'_

And that's when Urika came. She was racing down the slope with a full bag. She had so many items stored in that old house; all that she wanted to take with her. And a very special thing hanged onto her backpack; a very special oak.

Her foot tripped, and she rolled.

"SOMEBODY! STOP ME!"

Zora and Luffy raised their legs as soon and Urika's face came into contact with their shoes. "You're welcome," they both stated.

"Urikachan? You are also leaving?" Kaya questioned.

"She's my crew member!" Luffy chuckled.

"I'm going to be Captain!" Urika claimed.

"Captain of what?!"

"I won't stop you, Urikachan, but everyone will miss you, including me. I know, but they don't know of the great deeds you have done."

"They will soon! I'll come back and tell you and everyone of my real greatest adventures!"

"I'll wait for you," she grinned.

Zora and the others climbed on the ship as Urika said her goodbyes. "Shut up and get on this ship already," Zora stated.

Urika grinned. This was her first step as a pirate. "EVERYONE WILL HEAR OF CAPTAIN URIKA!"

"Don't be stupid! I"m the captain!" Luffy uttered.

Her bag was thrown on the ship and she climbed up. Zora raised the anchor, and the ship started to drift. She waved to her best friend until they couldn't see each other anymore.

"Here's the sake!" the green haired called out. She carried it onto the deck and all of them surrounded it. Niko poured the sake into cups and they all grabbed one. They lifted their cups to their lips and cheered.

"To a new ship and a new member! HOORAY!"

**Was this rush? Yeah, I got tired of writing about Kuro. Heck, it was over 12,000 words at first. I cut some out, and I will add that in later. I kinda changed Urika's backstory, so she's resentful of her father.  
**

**Why Urika? Do you really know how hard it is to find a name starting with U? Specially one that means lie? Yeah. I just found this one that sounded good. I was gonna make her name with Lie-something (a reviewer gave me this idea, but there was no good name with it). Urika made the cut without much meaning behind it.  
**

**Origin of Usopp: Well, Usopp has two parts. The "Uso" is japanese for lie, while "Sopp" is from Aesopp (ancient Greek author of the fables). Usopp's long nose could possibly come from Pinocchio or species called tengu (had long noses and tricked people). And personality from The Adventures of Baron of Münchausen.  
**

**_I only own four (new) puppies, a pregnant cat, and half a pack of gum; none of them are One Piece.  
_**

**_BrainDeadMaggot: I wasn't thinking along those lines at first, but as I was numbering them off into the rooms, Sanji just ended up there out of luck (thanks to Chopper ad Usopp). Lucky him.  
_**

**_Guest: Figured if I wanted to do something new, there was gonna have to be a major difference (ORIGINAL GENDER LUFFY); which is something I really don't do (since I mainly drabble in Fem!Luffy stories). Thanks for the review once again!  
_**

**_EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: I tried changing some of this, but didn't end up as well. And Kuro...I will never write about him again (luckily there's Jango or else the bad guys of this arc sucked). You know Buggy, he will find a time to run his mouth off; like a certain island before the Grand Line. _**

**_fairystail: I got a small idea of what I'm going to do, but we will just have to wait until Whiskey Peak. Heck, I was about to make her/him Cobra's secretary/servant. But ya know, Robin's a demon child and all. Thanks for the review!  
_**

**_Should I make Fem!Sanji into a total pervert (like: "He's rubber? Does that mean...that can stretch too?!)?_**


	6. Going Merry

"Luffy, Zoro, this will be our room," Niko stated with a sober tone. He pointed to the room with five hammocks and two couches. On one side of the room were barrels of liquor. In front of one couch, was a small table.

Luffy looked inside and took a seat on one of the couches. "What about Uso-"

Annoyed, Niko corrected him once again, "Urika."

"Then?" Luffy tilted his head.

"She's a girl, so she will have her own room." He climbed into the room and stood in the middle. Zora followed, but stayed by the ladder.

"That's boring," Luffy moaned. "We always shared a room."

"Different genders."

"What do you mean? Usopp's a boy."

"Urika is a girl."

"No, he isn't."

Niko rolled his eye, "Then what am I?"

"You're a girl, Nami. Did you forget?"

He narrowed his eyes, and Zora felt pity for the two. "Look here, I'm a guy, you are a guy, and Zoro is a guy. We sleep together, alright? Unless, if you want to sleep out on deck. Urika, she's a girl. And girls and boys can't sleep in the same room. Though, I rather sleep by myself than with you two."

"Same here," Zora taunted. "I will just sleep in the kitchen."

"No. If you guys are a pirate crew, everyone has to sleep together, by genders." He turned to Zora, "Plus, no one wakes to wake up in the middle of the night with your trunks thrown all over."

_'I don't wear trunks,'_ Zora thought. She rather keep her distance from the others, then sleeping in the same room. Unlike them, she had a certain problem that no one needed to see.

Luffy pouted. "Then we will all sleep in the same room. Captain's orders."

Niko smacked him.

He barely noticed as he walked to the exit and turned the knob. "Urika! You're sleeping in here!"

"Wha?" she questioned. He only gave her a grin.

...

Urika laid on the couch and breath heavily. She was sleeping with three guys. Her face began to redness as she shifted the sheets over them. How could she sleep like this?!

She took a deep breath and tried to close her eyes. As soon as she started to daze off, Luffy's sleep talking started. "Eh...Robin...that tickles..." The rubber boy kicked his blankets on the ground as he started laughing. His feet dangled in front of Zora's sleeping face.

Niko grumbled and turned around, facing the wall. He covered his ears with his pillow and tried getting back to sleep. "Not there!" Luffy laughed.

The green haired girl opened her mouth, "Shut up..." she snored.

The longnose girl held onto her hair and grumbled. She sat up and threw the sheets on the other side of the couch. This wasn't working, maybe a drink from the kitchen will help. She stood up and imminently tripped over Zora's bandages. "Ouc!" she snapped as she grabbed her knee.

"What's wrong?" Niko turned around and sat up.

"I just tripped," she stated. Niko nodded and laid down once more. A bit displeased, Urika threw Zora's bandages on the green hair's hammock. What she wasn't expecting was the full view of Zora's lumps.

Her shirt was twisted, while her arms squeezed her two lumps together.

_'Zoro...has boobs?!'_ Urika was moments away from fainting. She gulped and pulled Zora's sheet over the 'boobs'. _'Bandages...that's what I seen on the cliff...'_ she thought,_ 'Zoro has been covering up his-her breasts!'_

The longnose girl quickly climbed up the steps and onto the deck. There was no way she would go back in there. Firstly, she needed a drink. The dark skinned girl opened the door to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. The coldness of the liquid shivered her spine as it ran down her throat. For the life of her, she couldn't get over 'Zoro' having boobs.

...

They surrounded around the captain as his brush licked the fabric. Urika allowed a loud brooding moan to escape her large lips; she gotten zero sleep last night. Niko blinked in confusion as he tried different angles to make out the abstract image, but none of them worked. Zora seemed the most blithe with this as she was staring at it with a small smirk.

"It's finished!" He laid the brush down. This was their Jolly Roger. Unlike the last one, this one was even more excellent. He added more details than the one Usopp created.

"T-This is a disgrace! Your paintings skills are an eyesore," Urika moaned. She turned around and grabbed a piece of paper. She used Luffy's bottles of paint to work on her masterpiece.

"Isn't this suppose to be abstract?" Niko wondered out loud, "Like...what is this?"

"This will strike fear into their hearts," Zora smirked, "Exactly what a Jolly Roger suppose to do." Unlike Niko, she knew exactly what this was suppose to be.

Urika's brush lined along the paper until she sat up and pushed it into their eyes. "See! This is a Jolly Roger! Our Jolly Roger."

It was a skull with a long nose, black bushy hair in a ponytail, and a brown cap with goggles on top. And on the side, was a feather that connected the two slingshots in the background; they were crossed instead of the usual set of bones.

"See, I have filthy years of experience! I trained under a master of the art, and even surpassed his skills!" Urika claimed proudly.

"Wouldn't that mean you're a granny?" Zora taunted.

"Probably has six grand kids by now," Niko added with a click of his tongue.

"Wait, you have grandkids? Is it those onion boys?" Luffy questioned curiously. This was the first he heard kids, but it would explain the onion boys who follows her around all of the time.

"Hey!" the dark skinned squealed.

"Isn't this your own Jolly Roger?" Niko questioned. It certainly didn't look like Luffy in any way.

"Who said to paint that?" The swordwoman stared at Urika.

"Well, it was an artist's intention. You guys don't know real art," she puffed her cheeks and leaned down. She couldn't even look Zora in the eyes anymore. Not after last night. She flipped the page and started again. This time it was actually a Strawhat Jolly Roger.

It was same one as Usopp painted, except it was missing Luffy's scar under his eye, and even showed some strands of hair under the strawhat. The bones were stretched out farther, and the ends were skinnier as if to add effects. And much like Luffy, it had his famous ear-splitting grin.

"Good, now paint it on the sails," the rubberboy smiled. He still thought his own was better.

"Can't I have some help?" she gulped.

"Zoro," Niko started to said.

"Nevermind." Urika turned around and left with buckets of paint.

"What's her problem?" Zora questioned. She narrowed her eyes as Urika walked away.

Niko shrugged, "That time of the month?"

"Even you can come up with a better reason than that," she snapped. She even allowed her feminine voice to slip in. That comment just bothered one of her nerves.

"Sheesh, you asked, and I just answered." He slumped his shoulders and left the deck; away from that dirtbag.

Luffy smiled as he sat on top of Merry's head. Just like old times. The palm of his hand sat on the freshly painted sheep's head. He couldn't even tell the difference between this ship and the old one. Except, one of them was replaced by the Thousand Sunny. Both of them were great ships in his mind, but most of his memories included the Going Merry.

"So Merry, you miss me?" he mildly questioned. He waited a few seconds as if the ship was replying, "Me too." He grinned and patted the head.

Zoro.

Nami.

Usopp.

Merry.

He still had six others to account for. Hopefully, none of them has changed.

"Three. Four." Zora counted from behind. "Four cannons." The green haired nodded and paced around the kitchen part of the ship. She was counting the cannons and other oddities on the ship. Niko's voice echoed from the kitchen, and Zora groaned.

Luffy snickered. He fully forgotten about Merry's cannons. He jumped back on the deck and raced to the side of the ship. Brand new. He grinned. This was going to be fun. He searched around the deck for the rack of cannonballs, and they were stationed against the helm.

Urika, dirtied with dried paint, leaned on the railings. She had yellow paint spilled down her overalls, and white in strands of her hair. "I'm pooed," she complained.

It all changed once she looked over at Luffy; who was enjoying this sunny day by target practicing. He loaded a cannonball into the Merry's side cannons and shot at a nearby island. The lad was biting his tongue as he was doing this...badly. The cannon landed sixty meters away from the island.

"Here, let me show you how it's done," she cockily claimed. She moved next to Luffy and changed the direction of the cannons. With a small push of a button, the cannons launched again and this time, hit the target.

"That's how you do it!" While inside, she was complete opposite, '_Whaut...it actually hit the target...'_

"Amazing! You hit it!" Luffy mused.

Zora, watching from behind, chuckled, "Nice shot, sniper." She trotted over there and stood a few feet away from Urika. The green haired leaned over the railings and watched as the rocks crumbled under the cannonball. Something was a tiny off as she heard shouts; she narrowed her eyes.

Urika turned away and stood behind Luffy. "Wait, I thought I was the captain."

"I'm the captain!" the rubberboy yelped.

"Fine. I'll be the sniper for now, but I will replace you when the time comes."

"Sure," Luffy shrugged. It wasn't like he already receive threats from Zora about gutting him, or the usual threats from Niko. And he wasn't planning on becoming a bad captain any time soon.

"Luffy! Zoro! Urika!" Niko called from inside of the boat. He watched as they all walked inside. He was sitting on the bench, looking over the maps. The others joined him on the bench. "It's about time we talk. We need a chef, now that we have a nice kitchen." He paused for a moment, "I will cook, but you will have to pay."

"We will starve then," Zora commented.

"No need! We got Sanji for that!" Luffy claimed. He was grinning from ear to ear.

Urika glanced around and tilted her head to the side, "Whose Sanji?" She may be the newest member, but the others haven't heard of this person either.

"Whose Sanji? He's our cook!" Luffy explained. "Oh yeah, you guys haven't met him, and he hasn't met us either."

'Hasn't met us either?" Niko repeated and turned to Urika, "Has he eaten any mushrooms or drink from the ocean water by any chance?"

"Mushrooms," she yelped, "Not a chance!" She already felt sick just from the mentions of mushrooms.

"Okay, Mr. Know-it-all, where is this Sanji?" the navigator went back to staring at his captain.

"The Baratie."

Niko looked down at the papers. That was exactly the next stopping point before hitting Loguetown. He narrowed his eyes at his simple minded captain, "The Baratie is our next stop. Exactly...how long were you going to stay quiet about this Sanji?"

Urika, mainly to herself, began counting hours in Japanese, "Ichji, Niji, Sanji, Yonj-"

"I don't know," the captain bluntly stated. "Eh, I'm hung-"

CRASH

"What's that?!" Urika panicked. She quickly hide behind Zora.

Luffy rushed out the door and glanced around for any sign of trouble; which was none, it was only a dark skinned man standing on deck with a sword pointed at him. "Oh! You aga-!"

"Shut up!" the man yelled. The tattoos on the side of his face shined with his swear glossed over it. "I've killed countless pirates! But some no named pirate like you dares to kill my partner?!"

"Hey! I wasn't killing anyone!"

He swung his sword at Luffy, who only dodged. "You launched a cannon at us! An underhanded move!"

"It was target practice!"

"Targeting us!"

"I was only aiming at that island!"

"In which we were on!"

Throughout their debate, the newcomer slashed at Luffy, who only dodged in return. Quickly, he became annoyed and grabbed the man and held him on the ground. He just sat on him, "I didn't mean to hit anyone!"

"Get off me!" The man twisted as he groaned in pain.

Zora walked out of the kitchen and faintly grinned, "Why isn't it Johnny?"

"Whose it? Calling me out with no respect?!" He twisted his name and practically jumped up and Luffy got knocked off. "ZORA-SIS!" Johnny excited. Imminently, he bent his back and held onto his stomach. He groaned once again in pain.

"Long time, no see," Zora gave him one of her rare friendly smiles; not her regular smirk. "Hungry?"

He chuckled at Zora's slight concern; something he rarely seen himself when they sailed together. "Why are you here? That one place didn't work out?"

Imminently, her smile vanished and Johnny zipped his lips together. "Where's Yosaku? Did you two break up?"

"H-He's over there," he pointed over the railings. As soon as the words left his mouth, tears flowed down his face. Luffy and Zora followed and looked over the railings. What they saw wasn't a pleasant sight. Yosaku laid on a small boat with his hand over his chest. Blood and scratches all over his body; not just from the cannon that almost ended his life. "He is..." he stuttered tearfully. Johnny couldn't even finish his own sentence. It was too much for him to bare.

Luffy grabbed the man, and lifted him onto their ship. Niko and Urika finally exited, and glazed at the sight. "What happened?"

It was soon explained by Johnny."Zoz used to travel with us when we were just a bunch of lowlifes, then gotten an offer from this one scary group and we disbanded from Zoz."

"Zoz?" Urika tilted her head. Was that suppose to be a nickname of sorts? Johnny pointed to Zora; who was sending death glares at the bounty hunter.

"I wasn't asking about that," Niko remarked, "I meant, what happened with you two."

"He's..."

In which, Zora responded by, "He's ill?!"

"He was fine until awhile ago, but he started turning pale and began to lose consciousness. I didn't know what to do! His teeth started to fall out and all of his old wounds opened up again!" Johnny even felt that he should show them the evidence; he pulled out the yellowed teeth from his pocket and shoved it in Niko's face.

"Why do you carry them around?!" Niko, disgusted, puzzled. He heard of people collecting scabs and fingernail clippings, but carrying around other person's DNA was something else.

"I sail to that rock so he could rest, but then this ship attacked us! We were piled in by the impact!"

"I'm so sorry!" Urika pleaded, and Luffy repeated her. He completely forgot this event since it seemed so minor to all of the other things he has done.

"If all problems could be solved by an apology, we wouldn't need the police," Johnny claimed tearfully.

Urika turned blue in dismay, but a thought appeared. She may not be an expert on medical stuff, but she knew some from Kaya. She retreated back into the Going Merry.

"Zoz...is he going to...die?"

Zora looked down at her fallen comrade. Luffy nibbled on his fingernails, '_Where's Chopper?'_ While Niko stood behind the two and thought. "W-We can care for him," he suggested. He may be a little cold hearted at times, but not when a person was close to dying; such as Kaya. He had some standards at least; which meant, he never wanted to be lowered to the level as scum pirates.

"I knew it!" Johnny bent over his partner and a waterfall of tears soaked the other shirt.

Urika finally came back with a single lime. The others looked at her with distaste, "This is the wrong time for having a snack!"

She almost retreated back into the ship, but she went to Yosaku's almost dead body. She nipped the top of the lime and nudged his mouth opened. With one squeeze, the juice started dipping back down into Yosaku's mouth.

"What are you doing to Yosaku?!" Johnny squealed. "I'll kill you!"

"I-I think Scurvy-it's," Urika jumbled her words.

"Scurvy?" Niko repeated and imminently he felt like a dimwit. This guy showed all of the signs og this illness, yet he didn't connect the dots. Instead, it was the sniper who solved this problem. "I-It's a problem caused by lack of Vitamin C, right? Your buddy hasn't been getting enough of it, and lime has a large amount of it."

"Maybe you should have been our doctor," Luffy teased with Urika.

"I-I'm just uh," she was beyond embarrass. "It was just something I picked up while...learning Fishman Karate." She had to make up a lie to cover up her embarrassment.

"Well, this is a reminder that this could happen to anyone of us," Niko clicked his tongue. "Specially when we don't have a chef to watch off for these things."

Yosaku popped up as if all effects of the illness disappeared. Johnny cried out in joy and the two dance with each other. Soon they were dancing and singing along with Luffy and Urika. "He's recovered~! It worked~!" Johnny cheered.

Annoyed, Niko yelled in fury, "You don't recover that quickly!"

They glanced at each other and the mood quickly became serious. The pair stood side by side with each other, one arm is across their chest, while the other is at their mouths. "Pardon for our late introduction."

"I'm Johnny," the dark skinned man stated with a small tilt to his head.

"And I"m Yosaku." The guy who was once close to death, was now bowing his head to the pirates. He had a unique red headgear that covered the top of his head.

And together, "We are pirate hunters!"

Johnny's sunglasses glinted in the sunlight, "Zoz used to be one of us until that happened." He was still afraid to even mention it since Zora was giving them both death glares; her most powerful move.

"What are you doing here in East Blue?"

"Wait, Zora's a pirate now?" then Yosaku chuckled, "So the pirate huntress became a pirate instead." But right afterwords, he fall back to the ground with his pale complexion back.

"I said no one recovers that fast," Niko commented. It wasn't like anyone listens to him on this ship. As the man laid on the ground, a bundle of papers rolled out of his long green jacket. "We need to get him instead." He picked up the papers while the others handled Yosaku inside of the Merry.

...

Zora sat across from Johnny and the two soon started a friendly drinking contest. It was very apparent who was going to be the winner of this outcome. Johnny already started to drool and mumble after the sixth drink.

Much like in strength, Zora overpowered them in drinking.

"Jut liek the guud ol' times," Johnny chuckled. He was fairly sure he would have handled much more, but he felt like his stomach was about to burst any moment now. "U 'now tdat man ya was lookin' for? Mukeyes. He's seen been 'roun the Barbie."

Zora completely froze at that name. Hawkeyes. She sat down her cup of sake and looked directly at Johnny. Sweat started to run down her dark skinned face.

"That Shichibukai?" Niko questioned, "Why would you look for him?"

"We were going to head there anyways," Urika mentioned.

"..."

"Hukeye is te Greetst Smordsmun in the morld," Johnny tried to explain, but it was only drunk slurs.

"You want the title?!"

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

Zora took a deep breath, the others were already battering about her choice. "If that's what it takes, then so be it," Zora bluntly stated. If fate didn't want her to face Hawkeyes, then it wouldn't allow her a chance like this with Hawkeyes coming to her. If she dies, then it was never meant to be.

_'If you do something that ends up in the way of my goals, you will apologize to me by the end of my sword.'_ Her voice echoed through Luffy's head. This was exactly why he stood his ground last time the two fought. It was a battle that she needed to learn from.

"MANIC!" Urika squealed in fright.

Johnny's head dropped onto the ground. He was out.

Niko sighed. This was the famous Roronoa Zoro for you. "Let's change course then."

Luffy whined as Niko dragged him and Urika outside. The two, more or less than clumsy, fulfilled the request. They handled the ropes and the sails shifted. '_In no time, we will be there.'_

Urika echoed her earlier complaint, "I'm pooed." She followed Luffy inside of the ship while Niko stood against the railings. "Hm?" his arm pressed against something in his pocket. He glanced down and seen the papers all tied in a single rubberband. 'I've forgot to give them back,' he thought. He pulled it out and turned to go back inside, but the rubberband broke and the papers went flying.

Wanted Posters.

Or in other words, bounties.

He gulped when he came across Arlong's and Hachan's bounty posters. His pupils widen as his hand gripped on the document. He took a small knife from his shoe and thrust it into Arlong's face. If only this was the real Arlong. The navigator's arms started to shake and he bent his head low to the ground. For the sake of his love ones, he was thrust into this job.

It has been four weeks since his last checkup with Arlong.

Four weeks.

He gulped. He didn't show up for four weeks, the fishman probably assumes he's ran away; since there was a weekly checkup.

'_My most prized possession.'_

"Eh, Nami, is something wrong?" Luffy peeked his head out. He was quizzical why his navigator was sitting on the floor.

Niko didn't even say anything about Luffy saying the wrong name. He just picked up the papers and kept them into a pile. He stepped past Luffy, and reentered the dining area. Johnny was still laying on the table, while Zora finished her cup of sake. The orange haired placed the Wanted Posters next to Yosaku's head. As he turned away, he saw one last glimpse of the Arlong Pirates.

...

This was his chance.

Niko watched as the marine ship sailed right next to the Going Merry. A marine stepped out on deck and sideglanced the pirates. His main focus was on the flag that waved in the wind. "I've never seen that pirate mark before," he noted with a dull tone. He turned back, "Who's the captain of this vessel?"

"I'm Luffy!" the rubberboy stepped up. "Aren't you that whine baby Mullmoody?"

He narrowed his eyes, "I am Iron Fist Fullbody, the marine lieutenant. Not Mullmoody, nor am I a whine baby."

Niko didn't even try to correct Luffy with the usual smack.

"And I believe I seen you two before. You claim to be pirate hunters, correct? Looks like you finally caught some."

"Wh-?" JOhnny exclaimed. "We are..."

"This is all too good," he chuckled.

"I'll show ya just what we pirate hunters do!" Johnny exclaimed as he reached into his pocket. He side glanced Yosaku who was now standing. Yosaku felt his pockets too. "Where are they?! The Wanted posters?!"

Fullbody was too busy to even noticed. A small pretty blonde appeared behind him and slide her arm inside of his. "Honey, we are going to be late."

"He's ignoring us!"

"Pay attention!"

"Dammit!" Yosaku yelped as he kicked the floorboard.

Fullbody still had one more thing left. He pressed a button and on the side of his ship, a cannon pulled out and targeted the Strawhats. "They are aiming at us!" Urika panicked with Yosaku.

"You see, I had evening plans," Fullbody stated, "And I don't want to ruin our anniversary being late." He pressed a button and the cannonball launched.

Luffy stretched his body across the ship and the cannon was engulfed in his rubber. Unlike last time, he repelled and shot the cannonball at the marine ship. It went through the metal.

The marines were yelling.

"THEY RETURNED FIRE!"

"I should have knew better than trying to do things easy with pirates," Fullbody sighed. He turned to his second in command, "Select a water vessel and prepare it for me and my lady to take to the Baratie. Once I get back, I want those scum in my cells."

"Aye sir!" he raised his hand in honor and went to the side of the boat. The other marines were already preparing a second attack.

"What are we going to do?! Marines are attacking!" Urika whined. "HELP! MARINES!" Her call for help went unanswered and she ended up running back inside of the ship.

"Shut up," Niko growled.

"I got this," Zora stepped up to the railings and jumped to their deck.

"Look at that! Go Zora-sis!" Yosaku cheered.

"Zoz! We got your back!" Likewise, the two tried to mimic their aneki. Their jump didn't even go halfway the distance between the two ships, and they desecrated to the ocean waters.

Luffy snickered at their misfortune and swung to the other ship. He stretched his arm back and unleashed a fury of punches at the incoming marines. By the time they got there, Fullbody and his lady were already sailing to the Baratie.

Niko ended up being the last person on their ship. "I'll go on ahead!" He claimed as he took the wheel and started to change direction.

"What about us?!" Yosaku squealed.

"Someone help!" The waves from the boat caused them to swirl around in the water. They grabbed onto each other and hoped for the best of luck.

"Nami! What are you doing?!" Luffy yelped as he turned around on the deck.

"Don't worry. This ship is as good as ours," Zora commented. With one last punch, the marines were out like light bulbs. "The Baratie's right ahead." They both glanced at each other and then to the wheel; neither had no clue on operating this vessel "I guess I should go save Johnny and Yosaku..." She turned around. Knowing them, the two would find a way getting to the Baratie, even if they had to paddle the Marine ship.

Luffy looked up and the Going Merry was already far off into the distance. "Hey! Nam-"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!"

"THAT'S THE WRONG WAY!"

They docked on the giant sea diner vessel. "Nami's not here," Luffy mumbled. He looked at into the ocean, and his ship was nowhere to be seen in the distance. "And I thought Zoro was directionless..."

"I'm not, Idiot!" Zora insulted, "He left us and took our ship."

"That's not the only thing he took," Johnny added, "Urika-aneki isn't here either." He itched his head and glanced at Zoz.

"He's a pirate thief. This is his job description."

"He may be a pirate thief, but he shouldn't steal pirates! That's our job!" Yosaku commented, but quickly tried to correct himself before anyone would question him.

Luffy sighed. Even this time around, Nami left him. But 'she' had 'her' reasons, right? Even though he needed to follow 'her', he still needed to find Sanji. If he remembered correctly, this concrete guy attacked the Baratie. "Yo, Johnny and Yosake. Follow Nam-"

"Aye!"

The two raced off and jumped in another person's fishing boat. "They may be idiots, but they will follow through," Zora claimed.

Luffy didn't need any reassurance. They found 'her' once, they can do it again. He raised his arm in the air and raced to the door, "Let's find Sanji!"

The duo walked into the restaurant, and imminently they were seated at a table by a huge hairy man. "So where is this chef?" the green haired questioned. Her eyes zapped around the room, looking for Hawkeyes and not whoever this Sanji guy was.

"Eh. He should be here...la-"

A plate clattered onto the ground.

Everyone stared at source of it. A young blond girl stood proudly as the wind around her skirt drifted. The bowler hat on her head did not waver from the sudden movement; it stayed tightly in place. Her red lovely lips were in a tight frown, "This is exactly what you have asked for."

"But I changed my mind. I don't want the herbal soup, I rather have th-"

"Isn't it too late to change your mind? Specially when it's already in front of you, hot and ready?" The blond girl snapped.

When the girl looked into the blond's eyes, she saw no other emotion other than hate. Those were the same eyes that gave her boyfriend the bedroom stare. She gripped onto the tablecloth, "Then add an extra soup to our bill, and take this back. Or can we get another waitress at least?"

"For the third time, I'm not a waitress. And it would be a waste to order another, because you already finished eating anyways." She knowledge their empty plates sitting behind them, with the soup as their last dish.

Fullbody leaned over the table, "Can we get the extra soup and save this for later, then?" He gave the blonde girl a small wink and his girlfriend kicked him under the table.

The blonde chef in an evening blouse and skirt, gave a small nod and began turning back. Not before she heard the woman insult her, "Tramp."

She spun around and her pointed heels were inches away from the girl's forehead. "What was that?" Her cigarette moved slightly with each word.

"Hey now!" Fullbody stood up. The soups on the table shook and spilled onto the fine cloth. "We are paying guests! What happened to good customer service?!"

His girlfriend snickered. She couldn't wait to see this wench shown who's boss. That was her lovely Fullbody~!

The blonde's heels clicked together once she lowered her leg back to the ground. "I am so sorry that I ruined your dinner plans with that wench. Please, allow me to make it up to you later after closing hours~!" Each word stunned the couple. Fullbody backed away, but he was moments away from accepting the request if it wasn't for his girlfriend watching.

Moodie, his girlfriend, rose from her chair and threw her gloves to the ground. "That wench?! Who's the wench? Last time I checked, it was you who was making googly eyes at my man!"

"Honey! Calm down, I got this," Fullbody stated. He quickly turned around and looked back at the chef.

The girl moved quickly behind Moodie and positioned her legs underneath the girlfriend. With one quick movement, the girl fell to the ground. He tapped the girl on her shoulder and readied for a punch, "I know you're not suppose to hit a girl bu-!"

The girl was faster and had him on the ground in moments. Even during this, she was able to not get a single scratch on the marine.

"WHAT'S THIS?! A CUSTOMER?!" The large hairy cook reentered the dining room and screamed at this blonde girl. "It's you again, Savi! What did you do this time to our customer?! Wh-That's Mr. Fullbody of the Marines!"

"Oh, it's only you." She barely glanced back at the shouting male, "Don't even shout my name like that."

"A RESTAURANT HAS TO WELCOME ITS CUSTOMERS! INSTEAD OF HURTING THEM!" Patty shouted. By now, all of the others in the dining room were silent as they watched the display. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I was only settling a problem."

"BY VIOLENCE?!"

While Savi was standing over him, he gotten a small peek of the girl's underwear; which caused a flow of blood running down from his nose. Fullbody stood up and grabbed a napkin to plug his nose. With his other hand, he pounded on the table to get their attention. "This is what you call customer service?! What kind of restaurant treats its customers like this?! I will destroy this place! I will tell the government to shut this place down!"

"Was you, Fullbody-san, looking up my skirt?" Savi whispered with a blush. Her hand gripped her skirt to her thighs and looked down innocently.

"You Tra-! You won't ever see the light of day again!" Moodie shouted at the blonde. "How came you be so un-modest?!"

Savi narrowed her eyes at the ungrateful woman. Just as soon as she was letting them off easy, she had to open her mouth. Moodie's words were soured in her ears. "Looks like I need to have another lesson."

"A lesson?!" Moodie repeated with distaste. "The only thing you can teach is how to be a bitch!"

Savi knocked the ashes onto the ground. To others, it looked like her nails grew out and they were enjoying this cat fight. Savi leaped forward, but before she could attack the girlfriend once more, the other chefs held her back. "Let me at her!"

"Don't you dare let her go! She will kill that woman!" Patty shouted. He turned back to the blonde chef. His hands were in the middle of describing rather to crush Savi's head or calm everyone down. "That's enough, Savi!"

A gust of wind shot through the restaurant, and Savi ended up laying in the middle of the floor. She was rubbing her head as she glared at the attacker. The other chefs stood back with shock written all over their faces.

Zeff.

He stood over her with his arms crossed. His shadow lingered over her. "I should have expected this from you, brat." He glanced over at the marine, "What did you say about destorying this place?" He raised his wooden leg into the air, and within a single moment, the marine was coughing up blood. "GET OUT OF MY RESTAURANT NOW!"

He kicked the marine's ass out of his door.

Savi stood up and cracked her knuckles as she stared with an evil aura at the girlfriend. Moodie quickly stood up and scrambled out the door; following her boyfriend. She didn't want to be left alone with the demon.

Zeff turned back to his two chefs. He was only to Patty's waist, while his hat was almost close to the ceiling. His moustach was braided and ended at his waist. "What was that about?!"

Patty turned to the blonde girl and raised his finger, "Listen up, gal, customers are our gods!"

"Only the ones who eat your food," she remarked without hesitation.

"Patty! Savi! If you two want to fight, take it in the back!"

"Shitty Geezer," Savi groaned.

Zora and Luffy looked at each other. Zora was now use to Luffy and him messing up names so she figured this was probably the chef he was talking about. "So that's the chef you were talking about?"

"Nah. Sanji has a suit and a curly eyebrow. That's not him."

Zora could only sigh. From the looks of it, traveling with this Savi girl would be hell on wheels. "Do ya see him anywhere then?"

Savi twisted around and her hair flowed back, revealing one side of her forehead. Unlike a normal straight brow, she had one a thin one that curls at the end. An quite unusual sight. She turned and sighed, and marched to their table. "Have you been helped yet~?" It was as if the whole display from moments ago didn't happen.

"Nope."

"Then what will you be having tonight~?"

"Everything on the menu," Luffy bluntly stated.

Savi's tone changed when she turned to Zora, "And you?" Her eyes narrowed as she stared at this green haired 'man'. Even if this was their first interaction, the blond already wanted to snap at this 'man' for no reason.

"Sake and whatever else you have."

Before Savi could began to turn, Luffy got her attention, "Where's Sanji?"

"Three o'clock? It's five now..." Savi raised her curly eyebrow. All of her seductive tone vanished and replaced with confusion. She rested her hands on her large hips, and her blue eyes gazed into Luffy's simple dots for eyes.

Luffy saw it; the seventh wonder of the world: the curly eyebrow. He knew exactly who he was speaking to now. "You are Sanji's sister?"

"No...I'm an only child."

"Eh, you look like Sanji. His mother? Cousin?" To each and every one, the blond girl shook her head.

Doubtful, Zora narrowed her eyes at her captain, "Are you sure you didn't mix their names up again?"

"I didn't mix up nobody's names. They keep changing theirs!"

"SAVI! STOP GOOFING OFF!" Patty, the man from earlier, yelled.

"I SHOULDN'T EVEN BE IN THE FRONT!" Savi shouted back. She may be a chef, but with the decrease of waiters, she got hose into serving the customers. She huffed and wrote on a single piece of paper. "Sorry for that~! There are shitty assholes here~!" Her tone completely changed once she was in front of a male, unlike those who worked in the back.

The piece of paper she was writing on fell to the ground. Luffy picked it up and handed it back with a huge grin. She practically melted under his bright smile. _'He's..a...PRINCE~!'_ her thoughts chimed together. She held her paper close to her chest.

"Something wrong?" Zora questioned with the click of her teeth.

Savi hasty turned and narrowed her eyes at the green haired. Something was strange and she knew it. Instead of using her sweet tone, she swirled around and went back into the kitchen. Zora could only roll her eyes at the blonde's actions.

"Keep changing theirs? So...maybe this Sanji had a sex change and became Savi?" Zora suggested. She didn't really care if this Savi was Sanji, she had other business in her mind; and Savi/Sanji business was none of it.

Luffy shook his head and groaned. He felt so close, yet so far in finding his chef. "I'm gonna go look around." Zora nodded as her captain left the table.

**What's this? Yeah, I actually added and changed parts; we didn't really need Urika or Niko shown. Figured since I had 4,000 words without the debut of Sanji, that I would make this a complete different chapter. And because of this, I have no origin/why 'name' part in this chapter. **

**Will Luffy ever call them different names? Zora, no. Urika and Niko, yes. When? Soon. And Sanji? Probably so.  
**

**What will be changed with Sanji? Well, I have already wrote the chapter, but I dislike how it turned out. I'm going to change a lot for Sanji. Making 'her' into big pervert with princess-style dreams (searching for 'her' prince charming). I was moments away from making Gin die in her hands (if you can't tell, I'm not a big fan of Sanji's arc. Luffy had not much action within it). **

**Also, in the first chapter, I said Chopper's new name would be Chiyo, I lied. It will be Clippa or Clipper (since there was a reason behind Chopper's name in the cannon). **

**Origin of Merry: The ship was created by Meri (whose real name is Merry). Both of them have sheep features, because of: Mary had a Little Lamb. There are two versions of the ship's name: Going Merry and Merry Go. In Japanese, both are correct. The 'Go' part is taken from 'Gou' which means Sea Vessel. Going Merry had the most support, which is used in most translations. In 4Kids, she was called S.S. Merry Go. **

**_I finally started making videos, and I don't even own those or this._**

**_Guest1: When I mean pervert, I mean watch you while you sleep pervert...so get ready for that. _**

**_ minhthu12-Present: There's going to be somewhat of a flashback when it comes to her fighting boys. Her rule: If they aren't Prince Charming, they aren't nothing but girls. Figured this would be funnier. But yeah, she will be a bigger Pervert than Sanji (watches you sleep, and steals your trunks)._**


	7. Baratie

Luffy stood against the railing and yawned. After getting kicked out from the kitchen by the old man, he ended up outside of the Baratie. He looked down at the lower docks and grinned. That man, Luffy had no clue of his man, was thrown out of the door.

Patty threw him out where they kept the cleaning supplies. He didn't even dare to move from this spot. He felt so weak and fragile. A plate clattered onto the ground and it's sweet scents allured the pirate to look up. Savi sat next to him with her back against the railings. "Here, have this," her sweet lovely voice called out to him.

The pirate grinned with delight and hurriedly ate the food given to him. "This is the most delicious rice I've ever had!" While he was eating, he started to sprout tears of happiness. "I should not be ashamed..being saved by a girl no less...I don't want to be ashamed..but I thought I wouldn't survive!"

Savi beamed at the compliment. "It's really delicious, right~?" she grinned and showed all of her teeth. He paused as the angel smiled. Her bright teeth blinded him.

"Yo! Sanji! You lied to me!"

Their heads snapped to the direction of the noise. Before they could even speak, Luffy hopped down to the lower deck and stood above the two of them. "You're that boy from inside," she uttered.

"Sanji?" The dirty pirate wondered out loud.

Luffy pointed to the blonde. "But I'm Savi," the chef corrected.

"And Sanji!" Luffy grinned.

"T-That...makes no sense." Her hair, braided in the back, flung over her shoulder. She looked at this handsome teen, yet she did not know anything he was talking about. Her black vest, on top of her blue dress shirt, shifted against the wooden railings.

"It's like Zoro said. You had a name and sex change."

She lowered her eyebrow. "Pardon, but I have always been female since my birth. And I have never once been called Sanji. Except by you~!"

"It's alright!" Luffy nodded his head, "So, join our crew as a pirate chef!"

"What~?"

"Come on! You helped that pirate dude and he was almost dead. So you're going to be my chef!"

"I'm really sorry, but I can't accept that." Her eye shadowed as she looked down into her lap.

"And I can't accept that either," he remarked. He jumped down and stood in front of Savi with his arms crossed.

"I...have reasons to stay here." She turned around and looked into the sea, "I have to stay here."

"I refuse."

"What do you mean?"

"I refuse your refusal."

Gin watched as the two played off of each other. Even though he's lucky to just have this plate of food, he felt like he needed popcorn as he watched this event unfold. It was like an opera. The plate was finished and he sat crossed-legged.

Savi clapped her hands together and gaze upon with heart filled eyes. "Bello~!"

Luffy tilted his head, "It's because of that old man, right?"

"The Shitty geezer," Savi corrected. All of her charm disappeared as she talked about the old nut. "This ship is his treasure. He used to be a famous pirate, but he retired to run this shitty place. Majorly our customers are pirates, so we lose a lot of waiters." Her hand reached out over the railing and pulled back, "But unlike them, I'm not walking out on this place."

Luffy moaned; he rather have Sanji beat him up than go through this again. "You're coming with us."

Savi sighed and opened her mouth to speak again, "I'm sorry, handsome~, but I can't leave this place."

"Tell me the reason."

"I can't."

Luffy grumbled, "Why won't you tell me?"

"Excuse me for interrupting." The pirate halted their debate, "My name is Gin, and I work for the Creek Pirates." His eyes made contact with the straw hat wearer.

"I'm Luffy!"

He spoke again, "You're a pirate, correct? What's your goal?"

"One Piece! I'm heading to the Grand Line! I'm gonna become the King of Pirates!"

Gin bit his lip, "You must not have many members then, if you are just looking for a chef."

"I have five members, including h-" He started pointing at Savi, and she interrupted her.

"I'm included?" Savi remarked. Hasn't she been telling this Bello that she couldn't go?

"You are a good person, so I will warn you, don't go to the Grand Line. Don't waste your life there, kid." His eyes were covered in shadows as he remembered those dark days.

"That's where One Piece is! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates! So I've to go there!"

"I warned you. There are...That's your own decision. I have to go now..." He itched the back of his head and looked up at the sun. He could only assume what his captain was doing at the moment.

"Bello~! There's an extra ship down there~!" Savi pointed, but it was missing. It was the same ship Johnny took to follow Niko. Her eyebrows dropped as her shoulders slumped for a moment until she thought of something else. "Well, we have another one."

"Savi-chan, thank you. I owe you my life, and that rice was very delicious. Can I come back?"

"Anytime~ Bello~!" Savi answered. "We will have a table just for you~!"

A door on the upper deck slammed opened and the short chef stepped out. "Hey brats!"

"Go Bello~!" Savi called back to Gin.

The man bowed his head to the ground, "I'm sorry, Savi-chan. I caused you so much trouble for giving me food."

Savi smiled and with one swift movement, his plate cracked and fell into the sea. "There's no evidence, so they have nothing on me. Now, goodbye~!" Gin listened and obeyed.

"Savi! Get back to work now!" Zeff ordered with his arms crossed, "Or do you have other plans?" His face was as grim as ever as he looked down upon his second chef.

"What do you mean?" she questioned the old man. She didn't even try to use her seductive tone; this was the same tone she used with females and other chefs on this ship, even though they were males.

"This is a good chance for you, brat, the best you got. Go along with that strawhat fellow, and become a pirate. We don't want you here anymore." He heard everything in their small conversation, and used it against her. The words were true; for the most part.

"Old shitty geezer, what do you mean you don't need me anymore? I'm the second chef of this restaurant."

"You flirt with all of our male customers, and anger their girlfriends! Just like tonight. Your food is not that good, and shows no improvement. You'll drag this restaurant down. Everyone here dislikes you, and you even know that. You better get your ass out of here as soon as possible and become a pirate or whatever."

Savi jumped in front of the old man and raised her finger to his chest. "What the hell are you talking about?! For whatever reason, you have always despise my food! Even if you tell me to leave, I'm not going anywhere."

"You dare touch my collar? You little brat!" Zeff slammed her onto the ground.

The floorboards stuck up as the floor was broken. "Shithead! Listen, I don't care how many times you tell me to get lost! I'll be a chef here even if you don't like it! I will stay here until you die!"

Zeff turned around and opened the door, "I won't die for the next 100 years."

"Then I'll still be working here for one hundred more years" Savi resorted.

"See, you can leave!" Luffy grinned.

"I can, but I won't, Luffy-kun. I'm sorry for this display, but I can't accept your offer, no matter what that shitty geezer says. Even though becoming a pirate means I can see more of you, it's not an opinion," She threw her cigarette down into the sea and stormed inside of the restaurant.

/ / / /

_She turned the pages of her book and grinned in delight. __Handsome Prince. Darling Princess. She cooed. The little girl thought of a Prince coming in and saving her from this boring life at sea; breaking the walls on his entrance. _

_A snore from behind interrupted her thoughts. It was from one of the Sea Chefs on board. Savi picked up her book and almost threw it at him, but halted her action. _

_A Prince Charming. A man that wasn't like this buffoons she lived with since the start of her job. A man that saved the day. A foul word never crossed his mouth. A strong and caring man that will save her from distress. _

_The opposite of a woman. _

_She heard the tales of these Sea Chefs. They came here, and laughed about their hulky wives with rolling pans as weapons; ready to snap for no reason other than breathing. Some of them were in debt because of these women. Others were lost in love and lies. _

_She pushed the book aside, with her other books. One of Lair Noland, and All Blue. _

_She loved these books. They came from her homeland and her only thing to do in her spare time, other than listening to these men who went all night long about their pasts. _

_Others told her these were only fiction, but she didn't care. _

_One of these days, they will come true. _

_She will find her Prince Charming. And she will find All Blue!_

_..._

_Then he came with his red leg. _

_Their ship crushed. _

_And the two lived without food, water, or others. Except two bags he had. _

_She was given the smaller of the two. Reason being, she was a girl and had a smaller stomach than that of a grown man; y__et she ended up starving anyways. __And she was left on one side of the island to fend for herself. _

_In that moment, she hated him. _

_She scratched into the ground. _

_He wasn't Prince Charming. _

_He wasn't even charming!_

_Her bag soon emptied no many how much she tried to keep it to last. Then she thought, maybe she could steal his bag. He would sure have some food remaining. She picked up a sharp rock; and if things went to the worst, she may have to shred some blood. _

_Until, she knew the truth; his large bag was only filled with treasures._

_Not food.  
_

_She was given the whole bag of food, and he kept none for himself. _

_Dried blood._

_His leg was missing. _

_She gasped. _

_/ / / /_

...

Luffy dropped his bottom into the seat and Zora turned with a quizzical expression. "Did something happen?"

"I found Sanji. It was that Savi person," Luffy confessed. Why did he think otherwise? He shrugged and leaned his elbows on the table.

"So I was right."

"Yeah...Hey! You started eating without me!" Luffy pouted. He looked at the table, and half of the plates were emptied. He frown and glanced back up at his swordswoman.

"It was getting cold," she shrugged as if she was only doing a favor. "How long are we staying?"

"Uh...I don't know," Luffy honestly answered.

"By now, that punk, Johnny, Urika, and Yosaku should already be at an island. We need a ship, or somewhere to sleep tonight if you still want this Sanji to join."

Can he stay there one more day? Or would Niko's island be in trouble? _'Niko will just have to wait...'_ he thought. Trouble was afoot and he needed to stay to stop it; well, to get Savi to join his crew.

...

They two arose from their shared room and walked inside of the restaurant. They were quickly seated at the table once again.

"Don Krieg! His ship!" a customer yelled.

"He came to avenge for Gin! Him and his 5,000 men!"

"Why me? I'm just an average guy?!" Patty pleaded.

"The ship's gonna be destroyed!" Within moments, the customers were racing to their ships to get way. It was chaos until the final man bumped heads with the doorway.

"Gin came back~! Just like he promise~!" Savi beamed.

The door opened and he came inside. Under his arm, was a small man with dark circles around his eyes; Gin. "Excuse me, but could we be served with food and water? Money is not a problem this time."

Creek looked like he was moments away from passing out; he leaned on Gin for support. All he could say was grunts and mumbles.

"That's Creek?!" Patty exclaimed. He never seen a poorer looking man than this.

Creek took a breath and he fell onto the ground. All of his strength was used up. "Captain!" Gin shouted as he got down to his knees for his Captain. "Please! Help him! Give us some food! Or he'll die!"

Patty laughed in his face. "Is that really Don Creek, the scariest pirate of the East Blue?"

"We have money, so we are your customers!"

"Contact the marines now. This isn't a chance like this again! Not when he's so weak."

Savi walked through the dining food with a plate of rice. She didn't even look at Patty as she passed him and laid down the plate in front of Don.

"Savi! What are you doing?!" Carne yelped as Patty jumped into the air.

"It's a trick! He's the trickiest pirate of the East Blue! If we feed him, I don't think he will leave! Just let that worthless man die for the peace of this world."

Don chuckled and slammed Savi to the ground. "What a pretty one this is!" His fingers lifted her face as he checked each of her details. Her bowler hat slide across the ground.

"What's the meaning of this?! I brought you here because you promise you wouldn't lay a finger on anyone! And that's the girl who saved my life! If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been able to return!"

Don turned back and grabbed Gin's side. His foot lifted off of Savi's back. "This is getting great!"

"Gin-san!" Savi shouted.

"It's a good ship. I will be taking it."

"Captain! What about our promise?!" Gin pleaded the infamous pirate.

"What?!" Patty shouted.

"Our ship is worn out, so I want a new ship, and this will be perfect. But before we throw you out, we have 100 starving crewmen on my ship, so start preparing food for them. Some of them already died from starvation! Hurry up!"

"What! You want us to bring food to your pirates, and once they are done, they will attack us? I refuse to do this!"

"I did not ask to be served, I ordered. And those who refuse, must die!"

"Savi-chan! I'm sorry! I never thought this would turn out like this!" Gin pleaded as he knelt to the ground.

Patty turned and pointed at the blonde chef who stood up from the ground. She started marching away from Don Krieg and Gin. "It's all your fault! Where do you think you are going?!"

"To the kitchen. I will prepare the food."

The chefs surrounded her and raised their guns. "We won't allow you into the kitchen!"

Savi didn't even flinch. "If you are going to shot me, then go ahead. These people may be bastards, but that's none of my business. I'm only a sous chef, and it's my duty to cook for those who ask for food. What's wrong with that?"

Patty grabbed his wrists again and slammed onto Savi. "Tie her up!" He walked back into the center of the room. "Savi. You always sneak food for those I kick out. I never said it's right or wrong, but this time, it's absolutely your fault. I'm done with your foolish acts! I will protect this restaurant myself! We are lucky there's only one enemy, even if it's Don Creek. I don't think he can beat all of us. Our jobs as chefs to those who roam the seas have prepare us to welcome any sort of customer!"

He pulled out a weapon that looked like a rocket launcher. He aimed it at Don Creek, and fired. Syrup blasted out of the nuzzle.

Don flew back, breaking the doors, but he still stood. He walked back inside wearing an iron armor. "Your food is shit! As is this restaurant!"

Before he could break anything else, Zeff walked in with a huge bag. He sat it in front of the pirate. "You wanted food for 100 people, right? Take this."

"Y-You're Zeff?" Don questioned. "Zeff the Red Leg. But it seems like you lost one leg. Which means that you don't have any more power." He began a rant about the Grand Line and Zeff's journal; how he needed information to make it to One Piece. "You know of the hardships of the Grand Line, and it's all written down! With that I can became Pirate Ki-"

"Wait a minute. I'm the one whose going to be Pirate King," Luffy interrupted him. He marched up to the large fellow, and got into Don's face.

"This isn't a joke, kid."

"I speak the truth."

"Are you going to right, Luffy? Need some help?" Zora offered from their table. She watched as her captain step in between the two leaders, Zeff and Don. She even had her hands on her sword, readied for a brawl.

"No, I don't need any. Just sit there." Luffy rejected her offer but still managed to keep his eye contact with Don.

Don's body rumbled with laughter. He pointed at the table that Zora seated herself. His body, covered in iron, shook with laughter. "Is he your crew? Only a kid!" This kid, who dared to interrupted him, was only a rookie with only one crew member. How much pathetic could you get? And he was still boasting about his status in becoming the next Pirate King.

"Nope. I have three more," Luffy corrected.

"Please don't count me," Savi remarked, "Bello~!"

"Stop playing around! I had 5,000 members, and they were all lost in seven days on that evil sea! And I better leave before I start losing some more." He picked up his bag and turned around.

Gin stayed on the ground, pleading to Savi and the others for his captain's actions. Zeff stated, "You don't have to apologize. Everyone does something for their own sake."

"Zeff? Even you are protecting Savi? Why?" Patty stammered.

"This happened because of her!" Carne blamed.

"She wants to destroy this place!"

"Savi, have you came up with any ideas of taking Honor's place?"

"That's what you always wanted, right?!" All of the chefs were angry with Savi. Everyone of them disliked the biopolar girl, who turned from a sweet heart in front of a man, and then into a gorilla whenever one of them shown up.

"Shut up, you idiots!" Zeff shouted. "Have you ever been without food or water? Or a lengthily time period? Have you ever known the suffering of being without either in the middle of the sea?" They were confused, so he ended it, "We don't have time for talking about the past. If you want to escape, leave through the back door."

None of them left.

"Captain Creek is strong! You better get out of here!" Gin declared. He looked at all of them, but none showed any fear or hopeless. All of them were standing strongly with Zeff in front of them.

"Gin-san, I must tell you your captain just robbed our food and insulted our names. My duty may be feeding starving people, but not him. If I"m going to kill him, you have no right to stop me. Whoever dares to touch this place, even you, I will kill without mercy." She lifted him up to his feet, "Understand, Gin-san~?"

Gin gazed into her eyes while his was covered in tears. He tried to tell them, but they ignored his warning. He didn't want any harm to come to them (to her). These people (this girl) shown him mercy when no one else batted an eye. And all of this was happening because of his very own captain.

"I always knew you were bipolar, but this is too much of a change," Patty confessed, "First you want to save them, and now you want to kill him."

"Is there a point of telling you numbskull?" she snapped back.

"So captain, what's your plan?" Zora questioned Luffy.

"Kick their asses."

"Great plan."

The black haired boy held his stomach and chuckled in delight.

Savi overheard and shook her head, "You guys are crazy. This isn't your problem, so leave while you still can." This was only Baratie's business, and these were only customers, and a handsome pirate.

Zora cocked her head at this chef, "Captain's orders. But to say we are crazy is too much." She clutched her sword handle, "After I decided I would become an invincible swordsman, I left my old life behind. The only person who has the right to say I'm crazy is myself."

"You still don't understand what's going on?!" Gin shouted.

"This is our treasure! And we are protecting it! It's simple as that!"

.

.

SLASH

.

.

CRACK

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

Don Creek's ship was cut into pieces. All of them ran outside and saw for themselves. The mass was beyond repair, as well as the whole ship. Three large cuts.

"CAPTAIN CREEK! THAT MAN! HE'S THE ONE WHO DESTROYED OUR SHIPS!"

"HE'S BEEN CHASING US?!"

Zora's eyes widen. A small black ship sailed behind the wreckage. Her lips lifted, "Hawkeyes." The other two looked over, but her eyes were cloudy as she was lost in another world.

"Hawkeyes. The greatest Swordsman in the world." Zeff turned to Gin, "I believe you disturbed his nap, correct?"

"WHAT?!" Gin faced the withered chef. How could they get a death threat placed on their heads for only waking someone up? That was harsh and crazy!

Outside one of the crewmen shouted, "WHY DID YOU FOLLOW US?!"

"I just wanted to kill some time." Hawkeye bluntly stated.

Zora gave a wild smile as she walked to the railings. "I've been looking for you for a long time."

"What do you want from me?"

"The ultimate power. You're free, right? Why don't you fight me?"

"Wait! That's Roronoa Zoro! The Pirate Hunter!"

"I really feel sorry for you, weakling. Even greater swordsmen won't right me because they can estimate their power and mine. Your strong will that wants to challenge me comes from your brave heart or from foolishness."

"This is my dream and a promise to a dear friend." Zora untied her bandana and pulled it around her forehead. She unsheathe her swords as they both went to the same area. "I never thought I would find you so soon by chance."

"That does not make you any better."

Hawkeye pulled out his smallest sword. "I don't carry a knife smaller than this."

"What is that suppose to mean?!"

"Even with this, you will be easy kill."

Zora stormed forward. Their swords clashed, but Hawkeye's brought Zora's to a complete halt. The green haired back up and started again, but her movements were loose and he was able to block each one. "What is your duty? And what do you want from the ultimate power, you weakling?"

Luffy hand gripped onto the railing. It was all happening again, and he had no power to stop it.

Zora tried once again, but Hawkeye marked her body with a puncture into the chest. It was inches away from her heart, but Zora didn't move. "Do you want this to go through your heart? Why aren't you stepping back?" He looked down where he pierced her, and knew immiently why this wound was not as bad as usual. Padding.

"If I take a single step back, I...would be backing down on my promise, and I will not be able to stand here again."

"This is called losing."

Zora chuckled as blood ran down her jaw, "That's why I can't step back."

"Even if this means you will lose your life?"

"If I have to lose, I rather die!"

Hawkeye blinked and his eyes widen a tiny. He withdraw his knife and she stood strong, "Tell me your name, kid."

"Roronoa Zora."

There were several gasps.

"I'll remember that. I haven't met someone with such a strong will like you for a long time, specially a female. And to repay that, I will use my Black Sword, the strongest sword in the world, to end your life."

Zora tried one more attack, but two of his blades broke on contact with the Black Sword.

She lost, and she knew.

The green haired turned around and faced Hawkeye. He didn't bat an eye, but only gaze down upon her, "What are you doing?"

"It's shameful for a swordsman to be hit from behind." She gave him a demonic smile.

Hawkeye gave a slight grin and slashed Zora across the chest. It strike her from her shoulder to her waist. All of her bandages were broken, as well as her skin. Her blood ran down her shirt and chest. Crimson covered her.

"It's too easy for you to give up your dream like that!" Savi shouted. Her heels pounded on the deck. She couldn't believe this idiot would do something like this.

Luffy stretched across the water and smacked Hawkeye. This time however, Luffy did not miss. His fist smacked against Hawkeye's chest, and the man barely register the hit. He only gaze upon the rubber man who wrapped around his body. "I see you are that girl's friend. Do not fret, she's still alive."

"Get Zoro to the ship!" Luffy ordered to the others standing on the Baratie. He was holding Hawkeye off. "You didn't kill h-"

"I did not. She has growing potential as you have seen."

Luffy only nodded. His limbs began sliding off Hawkeye's body, and he stood a few feet away from him.

Mihawk watched as they scattered around the girl and pulled her to the Baratie. He gaze above Luffy's shoulder and talked directly to the green haired. "I am Mihawk. It is too soon for you to die. You have to learn about the world and discover your trueself. Do not hide it, but instead take pride within it. You have to become stronger, Roronoa Zora. No matter how long it will take, I'll be waiting for you. Dare to challenge me again, Roronoa Zora!"

Hawkeye turned and looked at Luffy, "And your goal?" His eyes laid on the strawhat that covered his head. The same strawhat he knew of that was wore by Shanks. Why this boy had it was beyond him.

"To become Pirate King."

"That is a greater fret than surpassing me."

"I don't care!"

Zora raised her sword to the sky. Kuina's sword. "L-Luffy! I am sorry I disgraced your name! If I can't become an invincible swordsman, how can I be on the Pirate King's crew? I WON'T LOSE TO ANYONE EVER AGAIN! UNTIL I DEFEAT THAT MAN AND BECOME THE GREATEST SWORDSMAN, I WON'T LOSE AGAIN! FOREVER!" Tears were sprouting from both of her dark brown eyes, "Do you have any problems with that, Pirate King?"

"Nope!"

"You two are a very good pair." He gave a faint grin, "I hope I will see you two again. In the Grand Line." He turned around, but stopped by an unfriendly sight, Don. Without much conflict, Hawkeye strolled away, leaving Don with an ajar frown.

Chefs surrounded Zora and started to muttered between them. They pulled off her shirt to start bandaging the wound and they had a surprise. "Y-You''ve boobs?!"

"Zoro? You're a girl?!" Luffy questioned with his mouth ajar. Just how different was this world?! Not only has he came to the past, but now Sanji and Zoro grew boobs.

"The Great Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro was a girl this whole time..."

"How dare you imposter a man!" Savi shouted. She knew something was strange the first minute she laid her eyes on the green haired. She was moments away from kicking Zora, but the other chefs held her off.

"He's-She's injured!"

...

The two faced off. Gin spun two metal poles, tonfa, with metal balls the size of cannon balls. "You can't defeat me."

"Let's see," she uttered back. Savi held no weapons, only a cigarette between her two pink lips. Smoke escaped from the end as Gin charged forward.

He slammed one of his tonfa down, but Savi jumped out of the way in the last moment. The boards under it broke apart, and he pulled it out. Their faces were inches apart, his tear stained face only grinned.

The gloomy fellow slashed on Savi's right with his other. Her foot came down and he was pushed away from her before the attack could hit. Savi was still in the air when his tonfa came down and trapped her on the ground. The pole touched her neck, but Gin only sat down with his other tonfa raised in the air. "Just disappear from this world," Gin uttered with his head bent low.

The other tonfa spun between his fingers until the sped increased. Savi laid there with a straight face as smoke exhaled from her nostrils. The tonfa came down upon her, "Die!"

She tossed her cigarette out and landed on his forehead. She pulled out from underneath the pole before the metal ball impacted. She stood on her hands with her feet in the air, her sharp heels came down on his head.

Gin whacked her in the side. The metal ball hit against her ribs and she fell onto the ground. He ended up on the ground as well.

The two were weak already. Savi was caught into a fret with Pearl, who only offered cheap shots, while Gin has been weak for the last three weeks. The two were in no state to face off with each other. And here he was, facing off with the woman who gave him mercy unlike others. No one gave him mercy or even pity. He was always treated like a punk, and grew into one. But this blonde angel spared him and he was able to live.

And look what happened.

Her home was getting destroyed by the his captain and crew. If he didn't returned, then none of this would have happened to her.

This went on until his hands were clutching around her chin. Others were yelling, telling him to finish her off, but his weapon dropped onto the ground. "I can't." Tears dripped onto the ground. "I...Don Krieg..." He lifted his knee of her, "I CAN'T KILL THIS WOMAN! DON KRIEG!"

...

They fought on, and in the end, Don was laying out a piece of floating wood, while Luffy dropped into the sea. Savi stood on what was left of the Baratie, while Gin was laying on the ground with others surrounding him. Zeff watched, "He can't swim because of the Devil Fruit he ate, that gave him the rubber powers."

Savi twisted her head and yelled at the old man, "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?!" She jumped into the sea and swum to recuse Luffy. The chef quickly found the pirate, and pulled him up the surface, "Don't you dare die!"

She was pulled out of the water by the other chefs.

Don laughed, "I won! I'm the strongest!" He cheered in glory over the defeat of Luffy.

The chefs around Gin scattered away as he lifted himself up. They tried getting him to back down, but he walked away. He skipped over the pieces of their ships in the water, until he came to where Don was standing with several others. "Captain Creek. We lost," Gin punched him in the gut. Don fell down and Gin grabbed him over his shoulder, "We are retreating and starting all over." Without even turning to look at the blond chef, "Thanks for everything, Savi-chan."

"I'm having doubts about asking you to come back again." She pulled Luffy on deck. He may not be her Prince Charming, but he was certainly a knight.

He gave a slight chuckle that went along with her small smirk. "We may not see each other in a long time, but next time we met, there will be rice."

"Moron! You're poison! And that's the man who poisoned you!" Patty shouted. He stomped on the ground as if Gin would pay more attention to him.

Gin didn't utter a single word to him. This was his captain, and he sworn to be on his crew. An oath he will not break, even if this man deemed him as dead meat. "Savi, Luffy, I hope to see the both of you again. At the Grand Line."

"You're still going to be a pirate?" Luffy questioned.

"Captain Creek's dream has become my as well." He gave a slight grin.

Savi lifted a blanket on Luffy's back, "Patty! Get him a boat!" Patty was moments away from protesting, but one glimpse of Zeff's glare caused him to race to the side of the ship.

Within moments, Gin and all of his crew were piled in the ship. "Thanks again!" His grin disappeared, "I don't think I can return this ship."

"If you return it, you will have to deal with those assholes," she pointed to Patty and the other chef. They were still growling from their battle.

"This is a very dangerous restaurant," he chuckled.

"We are the Baratie chefs! This restaurant can handle anything!"

Patty added with a huge grin pasted on his face, "Even Savi's period!"

In moments, that chef was floating in the sea several miles out with blood running down his nose.

...

Luffy and Savi left Zora's bedroom. "To think, a famous Pirate Hunter is actually a female." She shook her head. From working in a restaurant, she heard all kinds of rumors that surrounded 'Zoro's' name, and none of them mentioned she had a two melons underneath her shirt. Yet, it explained why Savi felt something odd against the green haired once her eyes laid on Zora.

"That's Zoro for ya!" Luffy smiled his famous grin.

They lead out onto the deck and Savi over looked the sea. "So, today is your last day here. I will miss you, Bello~"

"You won't be missing me!" Luffy smiled, and caught Savi by the tongue.

"I won't become a pirate. I'll stay here and continue to be a chef, until the old man accepts my skills. That shitty geezer gave up his leg and dream just so I can be here today. I know dying isn't what he wants, but this ship just started out with just me and him. I just can't leave this place." She looked out into the sea, and Luffy gazed in the same direction, "But I've thought of going to the Grand Line some day." Her last two days echoed off into the distanced.

"Why not now?"

"It's not time." She twisted her head and looked at Luffy with a childish grin, "Have you heard of 'All Blue'?"

"Uh, not much," Luffy answered. He heard from Sanji of All Blue, but it was a tale he never got tired of hearing.

"It's a magical sea with all kinds of fish! Those from East Blue, North, West, and South all gathered into one place. It has all kinds of creatures living in it's depths! I want to see it with my own eyes!" All throughout it, she smiled as brightly as ever. Her teeth shined in the sun as her lips moved with each word. "It's a cook's dream to visit such a place of wonder! Hopefully a wonder that I'll share with you~!" She tilted her head to the side, "It's always been my dream to find the legendary sea, All Blue. I guess we both have crazy dreams, huh?"

"That's what makes them fun!"

Savi smiled along with him. "That's why it has to be true!"

Zeff watched from above as Savi explained every aspect of All Blue to Luffy. She looked just like a child. He remembered the first time they met; while she may have been a child at the time, she was mature for her age. Their time stuck on the island caused the girl to abandon all childish thoughts; all too soon. Throughout all of these years, he never saw her smile like that.

It was one of those goofy grins that reminded him of his family: the chefs in the Baratie.

...

The duo walked down and opened the door to the dining room. They had pulled all of the tables together to form one long one, and each chair was taken as the chefs ate. "Where are our seats?" Savi demanded.

"Where's the food?" Luffy questioned.

"There's no where to sit."

"Just sit on the floor!"

"Sit on the floor? What kind of restaurant is this?" Savi growled. In the end, the two of them were seated in a corner with several bowls in front of them. "Sorry about this. They are morons."

Luffy cocked his head, "They look strange."

"They always look strange." Savi thought, _'Because none of them are Prince Charmings.'_

Patty stood up from the table and held up a bowl of soup. He made a whole turn and looked at everyone, "Hey! Who made this soup this morning?!" His voice echoed throughout the room. Everyone stopped their meals and waited.

"I did! Isn't it good! I worked hard on it!" Savi smiled. She was beaming in joy as she thought the chefs finally accepted her cooking.

The soup dropped the ground ground. The bowl broke on impact. "It's horrible! I can't even eat it! It's worst that pig's food!" He stuck out his tongue in distaste.

Savi snapped. "I don't think your mouth is good enough for my food!" He always found a way to get underneath her nerves. Even after saving this restaurant, the chef still graded her as low as ever.

"It makes me want to puke. I can't eat it!"

"Excuse me, but today's soup was my special recipe. I think you have a problem with your tongue." She pointed her finger at him. She wore a scowl that they knew they hit the bomb. Every one of them knew Savi took pride in her cooking, but also in her own creations and recipes. But, they followed along.

Others at the table started to copy Patty. The chef with the sunglasses spitted it out in disgust. And soon, the floor was soaked with Savi's soup. "We can't eat this!" Carne claimed.

"I almost died from eating that crap!"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" The blonde chef shouted. Her bangs still covered her one eye, but her other eye shined down upon them with demonic glare. Luffy was reminded of Zora's famous weapon, but Savi's failed. None of them stopped in their rude behaviors and kept going.

"Well, you are only a fake chef," Patty shrugged as his shoulders slumped back down.

"Don't beat us up, please." They held their hands together.

"What did you say?"

Zeff opened the door. A bowl clattered onto the ground. It broke.

"Old man?!" Savi twisted around. Everyone followed her gaze onto the withered old man.

"If I served that to my customers, my restaurant would go out of business. What is that tasteless soup!?" He growled.

Their eyes meant and Savi could only stomp the ground beneath her heels "That's enough, shitty geezer!" Savi's hands gripped his shoulders. "Tell me! What's the difference between my soup and yours?!"

"Compare my soup to yours?!" Zeff appeared in front of the blond chef. He lifted up his fist and thrust. Savi was knocked down in a single punch. A punch; not his usual kick. Even if the chef had great ideals, where hands should only cater to food, but he went against it. He retracted his hand to his side. "STOP DREAMING! It's 100 years too early for you compare my food to yours, brat! I've been cooking around the world!"

She walked out with clenched fists. She couldn't stay in there. Not with them. All of the work she has done for the place, it all was swept under the rug.

Luffy sat there and drunk the soup. He knew exactly what these chefs were doing, but Savi had no clue. It still pained him seeing Savi frustrated over this. "Why did you do that?"

"The soup's good! But this is scary! Savi will kill us if she finds out!" One of the chefs clapped his hands together and gotten down on the ground.

"She's really angry!"

Zeff's wooden leg clattered on the ground. He turned to face the straw wearing pirate. "We all accept her food, but if we don't do this, she won't listen." He confessed. The other chefs nodded at his words, "Kid, take that brat with you. Grand Line has always been her dream."

"I was already planning to!"

Patty growled, "You shouldn't make up a story like that!" Even against the best of his intentions, everyone knew he was doing this for Savi; even if he didn't want to admit it.

"We actually didn't want to do that!" They pointed to the broken bowl. They didn't want to ruin Savi's dish, but they needed to push her.

"Hey, I want some more soup!"

"Me too!" And soon, everyone gotten a second bowl, a third, fourth. No one hated her soup. They loved it.

...

Savi leaned against the door, "Morons, I can still hear you..." Her head lowered in shadows of the night. Each word she heard. Zeff nd Patty, both of them, bastards, were morons. A lone tear crawled down her face. "Stupid..." she teared.

Zora stood at the end of the hallway and looked at the blonde. Bandages wrapped her waist from her fight with Hawkeye. She remember clearly what happened, yet the rest of the fight, she was taken into the infirmary. She's been sleeping while the Baratie was getting destroyed. "Where's the idiot?"

"Inside, Okama." Savi plainly answered without remorse. Thinking about this person acting like a male grind her nerves as well, but she was more focus on the behavior of her fellow chefs and what that little boy did.

_"I'm the one who stole everything from that old man...so that I could live. His power... His dreams... This restaurant is the old man's treasure. If I don't place my life on the lines as well, I won't be able to repay the shitty geezer!" Her voice echoed through her head. _

_"I'm going to sink the ship." Luffy bluntly stated. _

_"Do you know about the immensity of my debt to this place?!"_

_"So you're going to die for it? Are you stupid? It's not about death! Dying isn't paying him back! That's now what he put his life on the line for! He saved you so that you could live, yet you want to die!? Only a weak person would act like that!"_

His words still lingered in her ears. Smoke exhaled from her nose as she looked up into the sky.

Zora passed her without a glance, and opened the door, "Luffy, we still have other things to take care of."

"Oh yeah," Luffy stood up and finished his bowl of soup. He stepped out of the doorway, and Savi was leaning against the wall.

"I'll go too. Please take me with you, Luffy-sama."

"Eh? Savi, you..."

"You want to become Pirate King, right? It means we both have crazy dreams, finding All Blue." She turned and looked inside, "I will do what I want from now on. I will become your chef." She glanced back at his smooth face, "Do you have any problems?"

"Nope!" Luffy declared with a simple smile.

Petulant, Savi turned to the older chef, "Thanks for every shitty thing."

"Don't thank us when we are running you out!" Patty thumped his chest.

"Stop pretending," Savi uttered as she lite another cigarette. "I heard everything." Patty screamed, as others did, in fright. They were ready for Savi's pointed heels, yet they didn't come. He gulped and looked at Savi in the eye. She was paying more attention to the old geezer. "It means all of you want to get rid of me."

Zeff chuckled. He rested his back against the wall and looked at the floor. "Right. As you say, I hate you, brat. I regret I let a girl like you live."

"What? So we're even now, old man. I'll live the rest of my life my own way."

"Can't you get on with it?" Zora grumbled. They still had a pirate thief to catch with three others. She still didn't even know what trouble the thief caused while they were away.

"Stupid it, Okama!" Savi snapped at the green haired. _'Couldn't you see I was having a moment here?!'_ she wanted to scream at Zora, but she felt a slight breeze from behind her. As soon as her back was turned, the two chefs attacked. Patty and the other black haired jumped into the air with oversized spoons; each with the intention of hitting her.

"All of the bad things you've done to us!" Patty shouted as he lifted an oversized spoon over his head.

"Be prepared for our revenge!" Carne shouted out.

"This is the last straw!"

Their spoons were inches away from Savi's long blond head, but she swiftly turned out of the way. As soon as they were falling downwards, she smacked each of them with her heels. The two laid on the ground with bruised faces and cuts; more that they'd gotten than from the fight with the Creek Pirates.

Patty slowly lifted his head and looked at the other man, "That...wench..."

The blond chef placed her heel on Patty's shoulder. "What was that?"

"You idiot!" Patty, for a reason strange for Savi, started to sniffle under her weight. He pulled one of his huge arms close to hid his face from her sights and the others. It was too shameful to cry in front of others. Specially over Savi.

Luffy grabbed Savi's shoulder before she could do anymore damage to the chef. "Come on!" he yipped. She could not help but smile along with him.

"No time to waste," Zora added. Savi's smile went sour quickly.

"Take good care of yourself!" Zeff stated as he stood in the doorway. The others went past him and stood against the wall, watching Savi get on an extra ship. She stood at the very end and watched as Luffy untied the ship.

"Honor Zeff!" Savi shouted as her eyes became watery. "I will never forget you for the rest of my life!" Even Zeff had a tear in his eyes, unlike Savi who started bailing.

"This is sad, don't you know?!" Patty shouted. His mouth was ajar as tears rand down it. The shorter chef stood close, and agreed with each of Patty's words.

Zeff sighed and wiped his tear away with his sleeve, "What a bunch of idiots..."

Savi gave a opened smile, "See you later, idiots!"

"Let's go!" Luffy shouted.

**Why didn't you write Don's fight? Cuz Don sucks, Gin rules. And...I'm not a big fan of the Baratie arc (please don't look at the word count and see it has risen by 10,000 words while other chapies are only 5,000). Also, I'm updating a day early since I don't know what's going on tomorrow :/  
**

**Why Savi? This is more of a personal thing. My name is Savannah, and my friends gave me the nickname, Savi. Plus, I have an obsession with four letter names (Niko, Zora, Luka, Toni). Other than that, just from looking it up, Savi means to bring love and new starts (I mostly just scanned through websites just for this small piece). And it means I got a new nickname for Zora to call her, Savage (...yeah..my friends called me that as well...don't think I'm trying to act like Sanji/Savi by no means. The nickname starts with S and Sanji was in need of a girl's name).  
**

**Origin of Sanji: ****Sanji is a play on words, meaning three o'clock, which is a japanese snack time. In the first draft, Sanji was suppose to be named Naruto, but then the manga _'Naruto'_ came along; which means ramen and somehow connects to a fish cake with pink swirl (I wonder where Sanji's curly eyebrow came from...). Not only did that change, but he was suppose to have a goatee from the very beginning. Sanji is modeled off Steve Bruscemi in '_Reservoir Dogs_'. **

_**I love researching names meanings, so if you heard something about these names, please pm or place it in a review since I love these facts. Also, I don't own these facts or One Piece :P  
Fem!Sanji's pointed heels came from 'Different' by Klexenia (check it out).  
**_

**_minhthu12-Present: Yup, there's a lot of enemies for the Monster Trio, and most of them are males, so we have to get her fighting somehow. And yeah, he simply picked up her paper and became her prince charming (plus taking her out on the sea). Tho, ZoLuSan will mostly be for gags and weird team combinations. _**

**_ Guest1: Wait until they get the Merry back, and I have a load of stuff for Fem!Sanji. Just right now, it's gonna be little tweaks there and here.  
_**

**_Next chap: Conomi Islands!  
_**

**_P.S. Who should I do for Origin of *Name* since I have already did the crew shown so far?_**

**_P.S.S What names should Savi call the males? Like Bello, I think, means handsome so I'm using for this chap. Anyone has any suggestions?_**


	8. Conomi Islands

_The small boy watched as the night went over the sea. A completed seachart laid on the desktop with a pen, freshly dipped in ink, on the side. He closed his eyes and sighed as the moon lowered itself to the ground. _

_This was his room ever since that monster taken over a new island. _

_He hasn't left this room since the transfer. "Don't come out until that chart's finished!" the voice echoed through his head. For once, he finally finished all of the seacharts of that day. And, for once he dared to open the door of his prison. He looked down the stairwell as if expecting the monster to appear once more and tuck him back inside. _

_Yet, no one came. _

_He raced out of the building into the moonlight, and soon arrived at a stream._

_His feet chilled under the cold stream. The moonlight reflected off it, as well as the sea creatures underneath. Unlike the ponds within Arlong Park, these were filled with colorful life. He placed his hand under the water and chose a seashell. _

_"A boy?" a girl's voice echoed through the numerous trees. _

_He froze in place and slowly turned to his head to the sound. He thought it was the guards once again, ready to take him back into that room filled of seacharts. Instead, it was a girl with a precious smile, "Hello! I'm Nojiko!"_

_He felt like his voice flees into the heavens at that moment. The girl didn't mind as she took a seat right next to him. Finally, he lowered his gaze onto the small stream, "I'm Niko."_

_"I've seen you before." She kicked her feet up and down, making the fish scatter away from them. The girl wasn't looking at the pond; instead, she was looking at the bright moon, which was now halfway blocked by a cliff. "You were here when Arlong came."_

_"Yeah..." his gaze never left the stream, even though the fish he was watching moments ago already vanished from sight. _

_"What's wrong?" she questioned as she whipped her head around, "Did I say something wrong? Oh...Bellemere is probably worrying about me..." she paused and looked up, "Hey, do you want to come with? We can find a spot for you to sleep tonight, unless if you want to go home."_

_Home..._

_He didn't have a home. _

_Nojiko stood up as water splashed his face, "Come on and stop frowning!" She pulled her lips together. He glanced up at her and decided to follow. It wasn't like Arlong would punish him since he did complete his day's work. _

_/ / / /_

The trio sailed across the sea within a compacted sail boat. Luffy laid his head against the bow of the small white sail boat and tilted his hat over his face. He was thinking about the events.

Nothing changed much from his first time around. Unless, if he counted why Sanji and Zoro was a girl and Nami made the captain sleep with him instead of the rest of the crew. In his other crew, Nami would have tucked him out the door the first chance she gotten, but this Niko fellow was different from Nami.

He left them on the Baratie as soon as marines came.

Did Niko really wanted him gone that bad?

He didn't see many changes with the rest of his crew so far. Zoro still napped most of the day, while Urika took him tales. Savi acted differently as well. She stayed close to his side and cheered for him just like Sanji did for Robin and Nami.

Maybe it wasn't just their genders that changed, but something different as well.

"Oi! Luffy-sama~!" Savi called from her side on the ship. "There's something coming up in the water."

Luffy lifted one of his eyelids and looked around. Savi's voice took him away from thinking; but now he had a headache from thinking so much. He held his head as he looked down into the water. Savi was right; there was a dark shadow under the water surface. "Food?" he questioned out loud.

His hand dived through the water and clanked down on what struggled on the other end. Water splashed down over his face as he threw his catch onto the deck of the small sail boat.

Yosaku struggled against Luffy's grip over his neck. "L-Let go!" he pleaded as he tried to lift the fingers from around his neck.

"Oh, it's you again," Luffy gave a small smile. "But, we can't eat you..."

"Bello~!" Savi cheered with hearts in her one opened eye.

Zora lifted her head from the side of the ship and looked at him. "Aren't you supposed to be following Niko?"

"Niko?" Savi questioned as she turned back to glance at the injured swordsman. "Another Bello~?" She cooed. First there was Luffy-sama~ and now there was her Niko-san~. "I joined the right crew~!" she stated with watery eyes, until her eyes met with Zora's body, and she paled with a frown.

Yosaku jumped up onto his feet and looked around. "Luffy-bro! Zoz!" he shouted. These two were the ones he was looking for. He stood in the middle of the deck and looked at the two of them, when his eyes shifted to the third member; he raised his eyebrow in curiously.

"I'm Savi~ But you may call me whatever you like~!" The blonde chef introduced herself to the bounty hunter. She used her seduction tone that she used with Luffy.

"Dumbass," Zora suggested, as she glanced at the starry night.

"Okama!" Savi shouted back.

As soon as Yosaku opened his mouth once more, Savi went back to her love-sicken state and cooed over him. "One of the Baratie's chefs?" he questioned.

"Former Sous Chef," Savi stated with pride. She showed off a childish grin.

"Did something happen?" Luffy asked the bounty hunter, getting back onto the topic.

Yosaku glanced away from Savi and to the ground. He petted his chin as he thought. Why was he here again? "Oh yeah! I remember! Niko-bro is going to Arlong Park." His face drained from color as his eyes watched the water surface. While he and Johnny were following Niko-bro, a giant beast came from the ocean and tried to eat them as they were only miles away from Arlong Park. "

"Arlong?" Zora questioned. She sat up and crossed her legs as she looked at her former partner. The name has rumors spread about it, maybe more than Zora's own. She knew of Arlong, who had a bounty placed on his name. Johnny and Yosaku always kept his Wanted poster in their stack of posters, but never once did they ever think of going after the fishman.

"Yeah?" Luffy quizzical.

"You don't know who Arlong is? He's a fishman who hide in the shadows of East Blu-"

"I know who he is."

"Then why aren't you scared?" he practically shouted at the man. He looked over to Zora for support, but she only stood up with the support of her sword. He finally turned toward Savi who was still in her love-sicken state thinking about Niko. "You 'all are crazy!"

He shouted his head and placed it between to two knees.

"Why would Niko-swan~ go there?" Savi quizzical. She hasn't even met this Niko, but she already thought of a sweet lovely nickname for the Bello~.

"I don't know! That's where the ship was heading! An-And we were right behind it when a beast appeared and ate our ship! I ran, well swim, and now I'm here."

"You're probably hungry~ Let me cook something up for you~!" Savi suggested as if that would solve his problem. "What would you like?"

"Roast beef!" Luffy shouted.

"Sake," Zoro added.

Yosaku's stomach grumbled and he looked up at Savi with a childish smile, "Fried beans!"

"Roast beans and fried beans it is then~!"

"What about my sake?"

Savi completely ignored Zora's request, and moved into the back of the boat where the kitchen was placed. She felt her finger across the blade. It wasn't dulled like the other two she picked out.

Soon the meal was done and she called the two guys to a finely set table with four chairs. She filled her cup of wine as she gave the others cups of sake, after Yosaku requested it for Zora. "A mid-night snack," Savi smiled as she picked up her glass of wine.

Luffy and Yosaku sat down and ate. Luffy grabbed Yosaku's roast beef and cleaned it to the bone. "Hey! That was mine!" he grumbled and took Luffy's.

"That's unfair!" he shouted back at Yosaku.

"I can always make you guys more~!" Savi suggested. But her suggestion was unheard while the two fought over the single piece of meat.

Yosaku smirked as he had a plan. He placed the bone in his mouth and ate all of the meat within one bite. "You monster!" Luffy gulped. Yosaku smiled as he chewed it down. "Give it back!"

"Tuu lute!" Yosaku smiled with meat stuck in his teeth. Luffy held up his arm, which was the signal for the bounty hunter to run. Zora watched as she finished her meal.

Savi's hair touched the table as she moaned in displeasure. They ignored her completely after she offered to make them some more. A plate of freshly cooked meat sat in the middle of the table. "Do they always do this?" Savi questioned as her cheek lay on the white linen.

"Much as I hate to say it, but you get use to it," Zora advised. For once, she didn't give the blonde a snarky comment or nickname. This girl was now a part of her crew if she liked it or not. And she was the one who Luffy set out to find.

A dark blue shadow rose from the water and showered the ship in water. "What's that?" Savi turned and looked at the sea.

"Johnny isn't that big," Zora commented. Seeing how the last time a dark shadow crept under the water surface, it was Yosaku.

"It's a cow!" Luffy smiled in delight. "Long time no see!" He waved at the giant cow-fish. The beast did not even glance Luffy's way. He was staring at something else. The meat on the table. The fish lifted his body over the ship, ready to ate the whole thing whole. Luffy's mouth widens, "That's my meat!"

"There's more meat?!" Yosaku shouted. He looked back at the table, where a plate had two pieces of meat. He turned back and widens his eyes at the cow beast, "Its back! It's after me!"

"You just noticed?" Zora gave a small chuckle as she unsheathes her sword. Her other two broke in the fight against Mihawk and she was left with one. Kuina's sword.

She didn't even have time to attack as Luffy's arm stretched and punched the animal across his face. Savi added a few kicks with Luffy's blow, "That's Luffy-sama~ meat!" she claimed.

Yosaku stood there and looked at the two. "Monsters...just like Zora-aneki..." He started to get dizzy and fainted on the ground.

"Oi! Zoro, throw me those ropes!" Luffy hollered as he stood on top of the cow's head. Within moments, Zora threw him the closest bundle of ropes. He caught them and started to tie them around the cow's horns. "You're going to take us to Arlong Park!"

"Luffy-sama, I could have taken you there~!" Savi remarked.

He chuckled and finished the knot, "It's more fun like this!" The blonde chef couldn't help but agreed. In moments, the three of them tied the cow beast onto their small ship. "Let's go get Urika and Niko!" Luffy declared with a childish smile as he tilted his hat over his face. For once he used their names correctly.

He wasn't letting Niko go no matter what. Even in this universe, he will make sure of that.

...

Urika laid down on the bed under four blankets. Surrounding her bed, which she was in the girl's room, was several traps: tats scattered, trip-wires, smoke bombs, and most importantly, a horn.

This was her second night guarded in the ship. When Niko took control of the ship and hightailed it away from the Baratie, she could only shake behind the door. She had no clue what Niko wanted to do with the Going Merry, so she prepared the ship with numerous traps in case she came back.

Or those fishmen.

She tried taking the boat, but as soon as she tried to get into the lounge room, she heard them and ran inside. They were guarding the docks and went on night walks. Every chance she had

And she even went against Luffy's orders, and slept in the girl's room.

A bookshelf leaned against the wall, inches away from the ladder that lead to the deck; and on the other side of it was a desk. This room was meant only for Kaya, in Meri's first design, but now it was the Strawhat's ship. A small blue couch was in the other corner of the room, with a glass table. Urika lay down in a hammock tied to the ceiling. There were several other cords that led to more hammocks, but for now, only one was being used.

The longnose girl was suppose to be the only girl on the ship, before Savi joined, but she knew about Zora's secret, that she was also a woman. Soon two other would join her in this room, if Luffy allowed them. But for now, this room only housed her while she was supposed to sleep with the boys under Luffy's order.

Footsteps.

She shivered under the blankets and peeked out from underneath them.

"Anyone?" a voice echoed through the barren ship, followed by footsteps.

Urika's face paled as she grabbed her slingshot from the nightstand. What if it was Niko? And he came back to reclaim the ship? The orange haired man hasn't came back on board once they docked on this island; leaving Urika inside the ship by herself. Or one of the fishmen? Did they know she was here?!

She picked a pullet from her brown sachet and positioned it in her slingshot and aimed at the hatch; the way to get from deck into their rooms. The only other way to enter the girl's room was the emergency exit shared with the boy's room. A bookshelf was tied with tripwires for the non-expecting enemy. All she needed to do was blind shot the target once they enter the room, then the horn would go off and a bucket of eggs would crash down on them. _'Urika's Greatest Plan!'_ she thought as her teeth shook.

"Niko-bro! Urika-sis!"

Johnny.

She hopped out from the hammock and smiled. Someone was here to save her from her untimely doom. "I'm here! Captain Urika's in here!" she shouted at the hatch.

"Urika-sis?" Johnny repeated one more time as he opened the hatch. "Finally, I've found you, Urika-sis!" He swung himself down on the ladder where the wires laid. "What?" he questioned as the wire broke and he fell down onto the ground, right on top of the tats. "Ouch!" he jumped up and tried to unpin the tats from his skin.

The bucket on the bookshelf overturned and dumped a dozen of eggs, which were probably rotten from being out of the fridge for long, placed on him. "Eggs?!" he shouted as the shells broke on contact. The room was filled with the smell of rotten eggs. Urika held onto her longnose as the scent almost killed her. Johnny stood there with his arms stretched out. Sweat dripped from his tanned skin as anger pulsed through his veins. "Why?" he uttered with a grit of his teeth.

"I-I-It was meant for an intruder!" she claimed as she fell onto the ground. Tats pickled her skin. "Ouch!" she cursed as she stood up and hopped out of the room. The scent of rotten eggs followed her out of the hatch. Maybe rooming with the guys for now would be a better choice, unless if she wanted to smell like rotten eggs for weeks.

Poor Johnny.

"Sorry," she wheezed as he climbed out and fell back on deck. "How could you..." he cried with his sleeve covering his sunglasses. Even if it was dark out, he was still wearing his sunglasses.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" she paused for a second and tried to act all cute with sparkled eyes, "Sorries~!"

His tears vanished for a quick second, "...That doesn't make anything better." And they reappeared once more.

"Okay...I'm sorry." She took a large breath, "I thought you were fishmen because they have been guarding the docks since Niko brought me has as a hostage, and if they find out I'm, Captain Urika, is here then the whole island would be after me."

He leaned up from the deck with his nose sniffling. "What a sad story..."

Urika proudly smiled at herself for that story. But something was amiss with Johnny. She glanced around Merry's deck, but it was gone. "Where's Yosaku?" From what she has seen, the two were inseparable.

"A cow beast got him..." The flood of tears returned, even mightier than the last.

"He's gone?!" she shouted.

He nodded his head, "It just appeared out of nowhere and he ran for it...the beast followed him."

"Shit..." she cursed and clapped her hands over her mouth for cussing."Uh...what should we do now?"

"Shouldn't we like take the ship back to Luffy-bro and Zora-sis?"

As soon as he uttered Zora's name, Urika's face froze for a second. She pounded her hand, "Zoro is a girl! I knew it!"

"Yeah?" he raised one of his eyebrows. '_Shouldn't they know her secret by now? They are her crew...'_

"Why does she hide it?"

"I don't know...but shouldn't we like...get back to the subject on taking the ship back? Before those fishmen find us?"

"Oh, alright!"

Before Urika could even start walking to the lounge room to get to the steering post, she heard footsteps behind her. Johnny took a few steps back and leaned against the railings. He gulped from whatever was behind Urika. She really didn't want to turn around and find out for herself; and thus, she started to run to the railing to hop down, but hands kept her in place. Johnny didn't get much of a chance either. "So it was these two makin' the racket."

He lifted the girl up into the air, her feet were a foot away from the ground, and she slowly swirled around to face the fishman. "A tengu?"

"MY NOSE ISN'T THAT LONG!" she shouted as she raised one of her hands to hide her very long nose.

"Look like we got a couple of intruders," the other fishman stated as he held up Johnny. "This one stinks," he moaned as he faced the other direction, "What should we do about them?"

"It's too late to wake up Arlong-san now. Probably throw them in the cells for till the mornin'."

Johnny and Urika looked at each other and gulped in fear. They were caught and couldn't do anything about it. _'Save us! Luffy! Zora!'_

...

Luffy placed his finger under his nose as he sneezed. "How long until we get there?" he moaned to the three others.

"Probably past morning," Yosaku answered. That's about how long he's been swimming. He was moments away from nodding off from all the swimming he has done within the last 24 hours.

"Can't you go faster?" Luffy complained to the giant cow beast.

"Just get some shut eye," Zora suggested. Her eyes were already closed as she lay back against the cushion bench.

"I can't," he mumbled under his breath. He just felt like something was going wrong, and he didn't like it.

"Please, Luffy-sama~? It's better if you rest~ If you like, you can sleep with me~!" Savi suggested in her flirt tone.

"He needs sleep. Not nightmares."

And this led to their first fight with each other. Luffy turned around in amazement as the two hopped up onto their feet and blocked each others' attack with their feet/swords. Even if he felt something was amiss, at least these two were still doing their normal thing.

"Okama!"

"Savage!"

"Shitty swordswoman!"

"Ero-cook!"

"Marimo!" Savi's remark made Luffy's eyes widen and he chuckled.

"Dartboard!"

"Hey! Stop that!" Yosaku tried to get in between them, but it only led to his dismissal. He lay on the ground with a red bump on his skull; which Savi didn't acknowledge until a few seconds later.

"Bello!" she went to his side and growled at the Marimohead, "Look what you've done!"

...

Nojiko wiped away the dust within her eyes as she sat up in her bed of blankets. She glanced around until her eyes laid on him, and she sighed in relief. "So...you finally decided to stay the night, Niko."

Niko didn't lift his head from the ground; instead he stayed there and slept. She only smiled down at her brother with nostalgic feelings grumbled in her stomach. Her brother gave a small smile in his sleep, which was very strange for her to witness.

She shrugged her shoulders as she lifted herself out of the bed, and over his sleeping body. Even now, he still slept on the ground. She had no clue why he did such a thing. She could only guess because they were both grown and opposite genders.

Nojiko walked up to the window and looked out at the sun rose. From here on the hill, it was beauty to see. No wonder Bellemere built her house in such a location, away from all of the other villagers. Even from here she could spot the shore where smoke huffed, coming from a ship. "Supplies?" she wondered out loud.

"Nojiko...you are already up?" Niko yawned from his spot on the ground, which were mostly blankets piled up on top of each other. Nojiko knew her brother allowed himself in during the night.

The blue haired girl gave a small kindly smile at her younger brother, "You want some coffee?"

"Please..." Niko yawned once more. It took him a few seconds to move from the blanket pile to the wooden chair at the dining table. Within this time, she was already pouring hot liquid into a cup and placing it in front of her brother; who hated mornings with a passion. He lifted the cup to his lip and slipped. "Tastes like dirt..." he stated as he placed the cup back down on the table.

"Nothing changed, has it?" she questioned with the addition of a glare, but it lightens once she remembered that faint smile he was wearing while he was snoozing.

"Nor has your coffee." On the table, a little away from his cup, was a map. When he went too met with Arlong yesterday, things got out of hand when one of his members found the map in Niko's room. He lucked out in the end, but they still think he's hiding treasures. His fingers went over the paper, "Only seven million beri left until I've collected one hundred million beri. Then I can buy back the village."

She knew the amount better than anyone; it was holed up in their garden and she kept her eye out of it. "You...smiled in your sleep." Even if she grown to accept that ever since that fateful day he quit smiling, but he wore one in his sleep. Ever since he has gotten back from his trip, he has been tight-lipped on what happened. "What happened this time you were gone."

He lifted himself from the table and turned to the door. "None of your business," he uttered as his shoulders slumped.

She gazed at his back and soon observed the floor. "You're leaving now?"

"Yeah..."

/ / / /

_He placed another seachart on a pile on his desk, and raced out the door. He couldn't wait to see the two women again. Every day after their first meeting, Niko tried harder and harder to finish the charters so he had more time to spend with the two. _

_His path was halted by Hatchan. "Oi, Niko-kun, you're already done?" The fishman questioned._

_He didn't even dare to look Hatchan in the eye. His smile imminently shifted into a frown. "Yeah, Arlong say I could come out after I was done with them."_

_"Oh, well Arlong-san sent me up here to give you this," the fishman pulled out another pile and handed it to the young boy._

_More unfinished seacharts. "What?!" he shouted as he glared at Hatchan. "He says I could go!" He stomped on the ground and ran back up stairs. Maybe if he worked fast enough and didn't waste any more time, he would be able to get back down to Bellemere's in time._

_His pen moved across the chart in such speeds. He tried to do it faster, but something inside of him made him slow down to make the seachart as accurate as possible. "What...?" he uttered to himself in disbelieve. "Why?!" he shouted to the walls as he kicked the back of desk. "Why...did I become that man's slave...?" He laid down his pen. It was already pass midnight. Bellemere and Nojiko would already be in bed. _

_His eyelids shifted, and he fell asleep on top of the seacharter. _

_Arlong gave him more work to do each day and his visits with Nojiko and Bellemere halted for quite some time. _

_..._

_"I was getting worried something happened to you," Bellemere blurted out as soon as she saw the young boy in front of her door. "Oh well, come on in. I've already set your place on the table."_

_Even when he visits, the woman made a place for him and a made enough food if he ever came back. "Thanks Bellemere-san..." he sat down at the table with Nojiko smiling. _

_"You're back!" she cheered in delight. Bellemere sat down a plate in front of the two, while she nipped on a tangerine. "Y-You aren't eating, Bellemere-san?"_

_"I'm going on a diet," she gave a small smile. Her red bangs shifted as she giggled. _

_"Thanks for the meal..." Niko stated one more time before plunging his fork in the food in front of him. It was home cook, unlike what he gotten within Arlong Park. They fed him what seemed like scrape or leftovers._

_"So...Niko," Bellemere didn't even glance his way as she sewn a shirt. "How would you feel with me as your mother?"_

_"Are you serious, Bellemere-san?!" Nojiko hopped in her seat and smiled at the two of them. She was also adopted by Bellemere, yet they were still mother and daughter at heart. _

_His fork clattered onto the plate as his eyes widen. "Y-You?!"_

_"Is something wrong?" she asked as if nothing was wrong. "Come on and joined our family. I may not look like it, but I think I can handle the both of you," she stood up and placed her hands on her hips. A cigarette was between her teeth as she glanced back down at the boy. _

_"I...I can't..."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Arlong." He gulped when he said that monster's name, "I belong to him..."_

_"Belong?" the two repeated. _

_"I was kept over a raid because of my skills in making seacharters..." he held his shoulder, "I'm a part of his crew..." The fabric of his shirt raised and revealed the Arlong's Jolly Roger. _

_"A child!" Bellemere shouted. "You're only a child!"_

_"Arlong did that to you?" Nojiko questioned. All of her earlier happiness faded away as she stood there shell shocked. _

_A boot slammed down on the table as Bellemere took a hold of a gun, "That sick bastard! I knew I should have done something when he came to these parts!"_

_"No! You can't!" Niko yelled as his eyes widen. He grabbed onto her sleeve with watery eyes. He didn't want to see this woman lose her life over him. He already saw enough bloodshed. _

_Her breath started to even out as she took a few smokes of her cigar. "Stay with us, Niko."_

_"Y-Y-Yes!" He cried against her blouse. _

_"A son...and a daughter..." she hugged the two children."Our family's growing," she smiled. _

_/ / / /_

Before either of them could move, there were several knocks at the door. He glanced back at her, while she lit one of her cigars and moved to open the door. Behind the door was a marine with a hat covering his hair, as well as a herd of marines behind him. Genzo stood there as if he guided them to the house. "What do you want?" she asked the leader.

"Niko, I believe?" he questioned the orange haired man who stood behind Nojiko. "I'm Nezumi of the 16th marine unit. You are the outlaw named, Niko."

"Yeah. I'm an outlaw because I'm a part of Arlong's Pirates, someone you wouldn't want to mess with."

"A pirate? I never heard that before," he shook his head innocently, "And I wasn't thinking about harming you...but we have gotten some reports about you being a thief. Even though you steal from pirates, a thief is still a thief. Just like a sin is still a sin. This is why the government will take care of those treasures and give them back to their rightful owners."

Niko's eyes widen. His hand reaches down back and grabbed an axe that was leaning against the house. "What did you say?"

"Niko! Don't!" Nojiko tried to calm down the orange haired, but Nezumi already ordered the other marines to strike. They disbanded and started to search around her property for the treasures. "Wait! Don't go into my house without permission!"

"No." He stated calmly as he swung his axe. "Don't you know of the crimes going on at this island? Yet you marines attack me out of all of them? Do you know how many houses and people Arlong has destroyed and killed?!" With each word, his rage was building. "Under his control, we have been his slaves for years! Yet the government only now wants to step in to take down one lonely thief?!"

"Didn't you just say you were a part of Arlong's pirates a moment ago?" the marine taunted, "Don't worry about him and continue the search."

"If you didn't come to help us then you better get out of here!" Nojiko spitted on the ground.

"You are not listening to me!" By now, anger filled the boy's eyes. Nojiko glanced back at him and gasped.

"Niko!"

He started to walk toward the marine leader when one of the lower ranked marine's voices halted his tracks. "Sir! There's something buried here!"

They found it. Niko raised his axe and slammed in across. Nezumi was thrown several feet away.

Genzo stood there and tilted his head. "HIS MONEY IS THE MONEY TO HELP KOKOYASHI VILLAGE! WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE THAT MONEY AWAY?!"

Niko's eyes grew as sweat poured down his face.

/ / / /

_Arlong stormed into the village with his force of fishmen behind him. "You know the routine," he uttered in distaste. _

_"Arlong...he came along...?" one of the villagers questioned with wide eyes. _

_Arlong's eyes raced through the crowd, looking for an orange haired boy. He was no where around. "Men, collect it all." He uttered. Villagers started lining up to add their tribute into Hatchan's sack, while another fishman took account. Each person had a certain price they had to pay. _

_Genzo stood up from his bent position and horded the two children into the forest, "Stay here," he uttered to them. _

_They didn't listen. The two ran back to Bellemere's house and banged on the door. "Bellemere-san! Arlong's here!" Nojiko pounded with such force. _

_"Don't worry..." the woman stated as she allowed the two back inside."I got things covered. You two will be safe." She turned and looked at Niko, "And, I'm not letting him get his hands on you again. Or else, what kind of mother am I?"_

_Niko stomped his foot down, "Don't say that! I shouldn't even be here! I should be in Arlong's Park, not here! I'm not your son...so don't worry about me, worry about yourselves!"_

_Bellemere slapped him. "We may not be blood related. But, when I said I would take you in, I meant it. I knew what was coming from it. I knew about Arlong."_

_"B-But...you don't have enough beri...I heard from Genzo...that you had barely enough for you and Nojiko..."_

_"But, I have enough for you two. And that's what counts." Bellemere stopped him in his tracks. She left her two kids as she picked up a sack on the counter, "Today...stay inside."_

_Blood spattered against the walls._

_The two screamed._

_Arlong laughed in their faces as he took back what was his. _

_..._

_He stood in front of his door with Arlong behind him. His eyes were still watery from that scene. His hands formed into fists as hatred rested in his heart for the fishman. So much he has tried to obey him, but this time, it went too far. He was able to meet those in the village, and they offered him their warmth. But the fishman took it away. _

_"One hundred million beri." His voice echoed through the stairwell, "That's the price of your freedom...or the cost of this island. Which one you chose is up to you."_

_The door closed behind Niko. His freedom away from Arlong's hands had always been his dream since the day he's got caught by the fishman, but if he took too long to acquire the money for Arlong to free the island...then who would be left on the island? Would he also take away Genzo? Nojiko? Just like Arlong did with his own parents. _

_/ / / /_

"You knew?"

"We've knew for a long time, Niko." Genzo uttered as he looked at the ground. "Nojiko told us afterwards...We didn't want our hope pervert you from getting away from Arlong."

"Sorry, Niko..." The blue haired girl looked down at the ground.

Niko's lip shook. They've only heard half of the deal, freeing the village. He never mentioned to Nojiko about the other side of the coin, his freedom; not like he would chose his freedom over the villager's freedom.

Nezumi watched them with a smirk, but his patience was wearing down. "Can't find it? I didn't order you to find a needle! Why can't you find 100 million beri?!"

Genzo turned to the marine and growled, "How did you know the amount?!"

"Oh..." Nezumi shifted his head, "I just assumed it would be about that amount."

"Arlong! Did he tell you?!" Niko lifted the axe and shouted at the marine.

"If he did or didn't. That's my business," he shrugged his shoulders.

That only proved his point. He bit his lip and swung at the nearest marine. Nezumi's eyes widen, "Shot! It's illegal to harm marines!" His squad lifted their guns and aimed at Niko as he attacked their fellow comrades.

"You piece of crap!" Genzo cursed.

"Move it!" Nojiko shouted, but Niko only stayed there in his bloodlust attacking the marines. The girl jumped in the way as bullets came speeding fast. Hitting her right in the stomach. She fell onto the ground and held onto his stomach.

Niko dropped his axe onto the ground and stared down at his sister. "Nojiko!"

...

They stood in the middle of the forest, "What now?"

"We find them," Luffy simply stated as he started walking forward.

"What a wonderful plan~!" Savi cooed after him.

"But where should we start?" Yosaku asked the next question.

A gunshot.

"What?!"

Luffy took off after it with the three following him. They raced through the forest until they reached a patch of tangerine trees. _'Nami's...'_ Luffy thought as he looked at one. He remembers the several beatings he gotten from Sanji and Nami from just touching one. His head turned back to the noise.

The dirt was covered in blood. "Someone's been shot," Zora uttered through her teeth, "Could it be Niko?" She raised her eyebrow at her captain.

As they walked pass the tangerine trees, getting a closer look at where they were they spotted several marines carrying loads of beri out. "Hey! That's Nam-Niko's!"

"Who's this?" Nezumi questioned as he watched his squad carry out their order. A few marines stood by his side in case one of these newcomers tried to attack them.

"What are you doing here? This is Niko's house."

Nezumi gave a smirk, "Marine business. Taking back the treasures he stole."

Luffy didn't reply as his arm stretched backwards and punched Nezumi in the face. He was knocked back several feet, hitting his head against the house. "W-Why?!"

"That's Niko's treasures!" Luffy stated as he stood his ground. The marines who were surrounding him took out their guns and were moments away from pulling the trigger. Savi stood in front of him, ready to take the bullet, while Zora attacked a few of the marines.

The bullets shot forward and Luffy pushed Savi backwards. His stomach expanded and took in the bullets, which double backed to them. They squealed and raced out of the way. All of their eyes bugged out in surprise of his stretching, while he only merrily laughed as if it was no big deal. Soon they had the marines piled on out of each other. "Now, where's Niko?" he questioned the leader.

His arm rose out of the pile and pointed down the path. Luffy nodded and went that way with the others following him. As soon as they were out of sights, his arm fell down as he moaned in pain.

It didn't take them long to get to the village.

They all surrounded the girl with the wound. Luffy ducked through the crowd and looked. He was only a day late, but now everything seemed to roll passes his eyes. It took him awhile to even find Niko through the crowd, who was bent over with watery eyes. "Niko..." Luffy's voice turned into a whisper as he sat right next to the orange haired boy.

"Arlong...I'm going to kill him." He growled before looking up at Luffy. He pulled on his hair and bent over his knees. "He killed Bellemere and my old village! Went back on our promise! And now even Nojiko has been shot!" His voice was filled with anger as he listed each wrong deed Arlong has done.

"You're crying." He barely listened to his words; instead he was paying attention to the water filled eyelids.

_'If you ever took away Nami's smile, I'm gonna hunt you down and kill you.' _That voice echoed through Luffy's head and his eyes widen as he watched Niko. Even in this timeline, Niko was in pain because of Arlong.

Niko shook his head and bolted up. He couldn't even face Luffy. Not ever all of the things that happened. Hate, pain, and anger filled his heart as he left his former captain behind. He needed to see Arlong.

Now.

He raced through the crowd.

...

"Arlong!" His voice ranged through the park. The fishman barely glanced his way, while others backed away from Niko's path. "You used that marine to take away the money from me!" He went up to Arlong's chair and took hold of his collar. "You told me that you wouldn't break your promises about money!"

"Break my promise?" He repeated and looked Niko in the eye, "When did I break my promise?"

Niko grabbed a knife from his pocket and pulled it out. He was going to kill Arlong if it was the last thing he did. "Don't pretend!"

Arlong paid no attention to it, only merrily laughed at Niko's attempt. "Tell me. When did _I_ break my promise?"

The knife dropped onto the ground as Arlong held Niko by the neck. "That' unfortunate for you. But a promise is still a promise, little boy. If you can't give me 100 million beri, then I can't give you or the village back. Plain and simple."

"I will kill you," he growled through his teeth.

Arlong laughed as he threw Niko back onto the ground, "A mere human like you going against a fishman? Remember, Niko, about our deal. If you can't return the money to me, then you still belong to me. Who feed you through all of these years?"

"Bellemere!"

"Ops. She's dead." He laughed.

"You demon! You did this!"

Arlong didn't look fazed as he gestured up to the tower, "I gave you all of this. The clothes you wanted, as well as all of those seacharts and knowledge that you would find nowhere else other than here. I gave you all that you wanted. But, if you decided to escape from this island, then I only guess I will kill everyone in Kokoyashi village because of you."

Niko picked up his head from the ground and spitted in Arlong's direction. A few drops splashed onto his leg. "Hatchan." The fishman looked over at his leader, "Take Niko to his timeout room." Or, in other words, the cells at the bottom of the tower.

"I'm not a child!" he shouted as he stood up once more. His hand reached out and grabbed the knife; that fell on the ground a few moments ago. He was moments away from plunging it into Arlong, but Hatchan stopped him and locked his wrists behind his back. "Come now, Niko-kun."

The fishman led Niko into their cellblock, where Urika and Johnny shouted from their cells. "Niko!" Urika smiled, but it soon went away as Hatchan opened one of the cells and tossed him instead. "You got caught too?!"

Niko ignored her and looked down at his shoulders. That mark from Arlong. All he wanted to do was rip it out of his skin for good. He didn't care about the pain. He just wanted Arlong gone. He picked up his knife and made a clear cut.

Urika and Johnny gasped from their prison cell. "Niko! NO!"

...

All of the villagers started too rose up, but Luffy halted their tracks. "Arlong made Niko cried," Luffy's voice cut their calls of action. Genzo glanced in Luffy's direction. "I won't forgive him." Luffy tilted his hat and started marching forward with the others following.

"Who is that?" Genzo questioned the blue hair.

"I have no idea..." she paused as they watched the villagers march behind him."...but I have a feeling he's the reason why Niko smiled."

"Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Savi and Zora echoed behind him.

Savi dusted off her skirt as she marched behind Luffy. Zora shifted her bandages as she joined Luffy. Yosaku stood behind the trio, separating them from the villagers. He tried to keep the villagers from following, but it did no good. They were done with Arlong. He went too far for each one of them, and shooting Nojiko was the last straw. They appeased Arlong because of Niko being under his spell, but it was time for payback. Not even Yosaku could change anyone of their minds.

Genzo and Nojiko marched with them.

They were going to get Niko back.

Luffy didn't grin, nor did the others. Anger fused with their veins. His strawhat tilted to the side as his gaze went on Arlong Park. His fist expanded and punched an entrance through the stone walls. "Arlong..." he growled through his teeth as he stood in front of the hole with his party following.

"That's me. What do you want?" the fishman growled from his spot on his chair.

Luffy didn't answer as he marched forward through the crowd. When fishmen blocked his way, he took them out in a single punch.

Arlong's interest perked as Luffy walked closer and closer to him. "What do you want?" he repeated one last time.

Luffy's arm did not stretch when he gave Arlong a massive blow against his skull. "Don't you dare make my navigator cry!"

All of the fishmen went to defend their leader, but Savi and Zora stood in their way. And, Yosaku was able to keep the villagers from joining into the brawl. "Weaklings are not allowed to interrupt Luffy-sama!" Savi stated as she kicked one of them to the curb.

"Pirates, huh?" Arlong sat against the broken pieces of wall. He looked down at the ground, "So that's how all of you are related. You, Niko, and that long nose...But, Niko is my navigator."

"Niko's mine!" Luffy argued. He turned back to Zora, "Go find Urika and Niko."

"Aye, Captain," Zora nodded as she cut through some fishmen to get to the door of Arlong Park.

Hatchan stood by the pool and used his mouth as a horn. "Don't think you can get away so lightly! I will make all of you become my pet's meal!" A dark shadow appeared and stood raised out of the water. "SHOW YOURSELF MOHMOO!" The cow beast looked at him with huge red bumps and watery eyes. "What happened to you?!"

"Mohmoo?" Luffy questioned the name. He still didn't feel it was right.

"You're a merman?" Savi's eyes glanced at the giant cow beast. It started crying up and ran back into the water, not before Arlong's voice stopped him.

"Mohmoo. What are you doing?" He growled, "If you really want to leave, I won't stop you. Just go, Mohmoo."

Mohmoo shot through the air at the two Strawhats. All of the fishmen, with Mohmoo backing them up, charged forward at the two strawhat pirates. Smoke came from Luffy's nose as he stretched his limbs to Mohmoo's head and their heads came crushing together.

As soon as they impacted, Mohmoo was sent back into the ocean, while Luffy didn't seemed hurt from the impact. He turned back and looked at the fishman.

"Arlong-san, you can just take a seat and relax," one of his minions stated.

"If we let you do anything, chu, Arlong Park will be destroyed."

Destroy.

Luffy turned around and faced the huge building. His fists expanded to giant size as he hopped to top of the tower. He didn't remember which room it was.

Arlong's eyes glanced over to the pirate and growled. He didn't even listen to his minions as he followed Luffy to the tower.

Inside of the building, the green haired girl raced around the building, leaving knocked out fishmen on the ground. "Where at they?" she grumbled under her breath as she took the same turn for the fourth time.

"SOMEONE! HELP!" Urika's voice screamed through the building. Zora followed it through the hallways until he came to a row of cells. Blood dripped on the ground. "Zora!" Urika's eyes beamed, but turned worried as she glanced over at the orange haired. "Stop him!"

Niko held the bloody blade in his hand as blood dripped onto the ground. Where the skin remained intact, one could piece out blue ink from a tattoo.

"IDIOT!" Zora shouted at the navigator. She grabbed a ring of keys and grabbed the knife from Niko's hands. The blade was in between her fingers as she pulled it away from his hands. Blood from her own starting to drip and combine with Niko's own blood. "Come on, idiot!" the green haired plunged a key into the lock and freed Niko from his prison.

The boy did not moved from his spot. He stayed there looking at the ground with his hand still up in the air as if it still held the knife. Zora didn't have no time for this and carried Niko out of his cell. The weight caused her chest to pain from the attack that happened a day ago.

She took the keys and handed them to Johnny as the other two escaped from their cells. "Zora-sis!" the two cheered, "You're our savior!"

"Cut that shit out. It was Luffy who ordered me to save you guys." She shook of their thanks and ran back up the stairs.

Johnny started a river of tears as the two followed Zora, who went the wrong way. "Left!" Urika uttered.

"This is left!"

"Then your other left!"

It took them a few moments to get outside. Johnny and Yosaku cheered in their reunion, as Urika and them dragged Niko onto the side. Nojiko's eyes widen as blood ran down Niko's arms. "Your...tattoo..." She placed her fingers on top of her own tattoos that she had gotten because of Niko's set.

Niko barely paid attention to his sister as he took the scene in. Arlong and Luffy was dueling on top of the tower. Zora blocked an attack which was aimed for Savi, who was busy fighting another guy. Urika stood by her side and took out her slingshot. "Don't worry! Captain Urika is here!"

The one enemy who was going in between Savi and Zora plucked his lips together when a pellet hit his lip. Urika gulped as soon as he laid eyes on here. "It was him!" she pointed to Johnny.

"I don't have a slingshot!"

"Oh...oh yeah," she looked down at her slingshot to the fishman, who was charging forward. "THIS IS NOT THE PIRATE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!" She hopped up and ran out the hole in the wall, passing several villagers, with the fishman hot on her trail.

"Johnny! Yosaku! Your swords!" The green haired swordswoman ordered as she tried to block with her single sword against six others. The two bounty hunters obeyed and threw their broadswords to her. She caught them in time before Hatchan could attack while her guard was down. His six swords clashed against her three. The sunlight glinted in their eyes as she took on the fishman.

Luffy punched through the ceiling and landed inside of the tower. This looked like storage. Arlong followed him through the hole, and soon the two disappeared from everyone's sight. Smiles of triumph also disappeared from their faces as dust filled the air above the tower. "What do you think happening?" Nojiko questioned with wide eyes.

"He's...going to...my room...?" He lifted his eyebrow at Luffy's actions. He didn't even know how the rubber captain gotten here, nor did the rubber boy know about the happenings within this village. He was just an outsider. Niko shook his head and stood up. His shoulder was now bandaged thanks to the villager's doctor, but his knife and axe was nowhere to be seen. These outsiders were fighting for him, yet he couldn't even fight one of them.

_'I will kill you.'_

He kicked a rock on the ground. He couldn't even touch Arlong. And it didn't look like Luffy was going to do any better than him. Even Urika, the coward, was fighting for him. Just what could he do other than sit there and watch others fighting for him.

Savi glanced back at Niko with sympathy in her eyes. "O~ Son of the sea~" No reaction came from Niko, which dishearten the blond chef.

"Don't drop your guard!" the blue fishman stated. He darted into the water, away from Savi's sight. "Huh?" she muttered as water came spiraling towards her. She dodged out of the water, but more shots were fired as he stayed within the water.

"These people...they are your friends?"

Niko paused before nodding. His eyes became watery as he thought. He told Luffy off, but the boy stayed and fought for him. No matter how much he denies it, these were his friends. He only had one other friend in his life, and it was Nojiko.

Zora had a slight difficultly keeping up with the six-armed fishman. She could feel her chest thumping against the bandages as she dodged each of his attacks.

"Roronoa Zoro! Do you know I'm very strong against a swordsman? Do you understand what I say?"

"How can I understand that?!" She slashed down with one side, and he tried to block it with his three pairs of hands. The sword went through them and hit him against his head. He gulped as he held onto his head. "I don't have time to play with you! Why don't you just die?!"

She fell onto the ground. Savi gasped, "Her wound!" But, something as small as a wound didn't stop her from lifting herself from the ground; she was going to finish this match even if blood streamed from her mouth. She picked up all three swords and tied her bandanna round her forehead; brushing her hair back from her eyes. She was moments away from passing out and the fever didn't help either.

"Idiot!" Savi shouted at the green haired. "You should be resting!"

Zora charged forward and the three swords slashed his body.

"SHE GOT HIM!" Yosaku shouted, while Johnny was in tears.

The fight continued, as well as the one that went on inside of the building. Luffy stood in the tower, looking around the room. This was almost an exact copy like the one Nami had. "It's his room..." he mumbled under his break.

"I intent to keep Niko in this room to make his accurate seacharts until she dies, or I have no more use for him. I've always fed him, dressed him, and shown him the world. I will provide everything he needs as long as he continues writing those maps for me. Because we are friends."

"That's not how friendship works!"

"I have been the only one he had! I raised him with my own hands! Without me, he wouldn't be anything!"

"Nothing?" Luffy repeated as his eyebrow rose. "You have been used Niko to write maps for you!"

Arlong eyes were bloodlust as he heard the moans of pain coming from his comrades outside of the tower. Each echo was louder than the last. This was the last straw. "How dare you...beat up my beloved crew and storm into my home... It seems like I've been too easy on you!"

Luffy turned around and pumped his fist, "Really?" Instead of hitting Arlong, his fist expanded and broke through the wall of the room.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"

"This should have been gone from the start!" He remembers all of the tears and blood his own Nami had within this room, and Niko had the same. His arm did a full circle until he came to a stop with Arlong grabbed his arm. His claws went through the rubber skin as blood started to drip. "YOU MADE NIKO CRY!" He finished the circle and the room came falling down on top of them. The whole tower collapsed on top of itself.

And soon, the two were piled within the debris. Luffy was the first to stand out as he looked around. Did Arlong really go down that easy? Was he really that stronger?

His answers were soon answered when Arlong lifted his arm up from the debris and grabbed Luffy's legs. "GUM GUM NO AXE!" He raised his foot and stomped Arlong back into the debris. He turned and looked at the orange haired, "YOU ARE MY FRIEND, NIKO!"

"Yes!" Niko grinned under tears.

"LUFFY!" Zora shouted as she threw a piece of a broken desk from on top of her. Luffy stood on top of her.

"Oh, hey Zoro!" he smiled with a chuckle.

"You...defeated...Arlong..." Niko muttered through his fingers.

"Damn right," he grinned his famous smile.

...

All of them stood on board of the Going Merry, even the two bounty hunters who were without transportation. Luffy and Urika waved to the villagers, while Zora rested from her battle wounds.

"Is Niko-san coming?" Savi questioned as she leaned over the railing. Her eye traveled through the crowd of villagers, looking for their male companion. She only saw the navigator once, but her heart was already taken from first sight; the same way that happened when she saw Luffy for the first time.

"He will be here," Luffy smiled and patted Savi's shoulder. As soon as his hand contacted her shoulders, she melted onto the deck. The rubber captain didn't know why, but things were changed this time around. Not only did Niko take Merry away sooner, but it took him longer to get to the island, where everything was happening without him. Is it because he stayed on the Baratie too long? Or were his days shorter than he originally thought. He imminently stopped this train of thought as sweat dripped down his nose.

A dot ran through the streets with a small sack over his shoulders. "RAISE THE ANCHOR!" Niko called as he raced down the dirt path.

"Oi, you heard her," Luffy glanced back, and Savi was already lifting it out of the water.

The villagers weren't so pleased with Niko racing away from them without saying anything. Some even tried to stop him to say goodbye. He passed all of them and jumped from the dock onto the deck of the ship. Instead of a swift landing, he landed right into Savi and the two ended up knocking into Zora. "Oi!" Zora yelled as she tried to get out of the pile of bodies.

"Niko-swan~" Sanji uttered with a bloody nose.

Niko hopped onto his feet and went to the railing, lifting his shirt while all kinds of wallets fell onto the ground. "Wish you luck!" he smiled back at his sister and family friend.

"YOU LITTLE THIEF!"

"GOODBYE EVERYONE! SEE YOU LATER!" The navigator yelled back.

Urika's mouth dropped, "He...never changes..."

"Is he going to betray us again?" The swordswoman suggested.

"Niko-san is so cool~!" Savi had hearts in her eyes as she swirled from one side to the other. Zora was moments away from slapping some sense into the small blonde cook.

"Is he?" Johnny uttered, which earned a smack from Niko. The man grunted as he bit his tongue. "Ouch!"

Luffy just laughed. None of them had a clue. The villagers screamed for their wallets. Just like last time. Luffy's eyes opened up as he forgotten something. "Oh! Niko!" Niko raised his head up and looked at his captain.

"You...say Niko..." He lifted his eyebrow.

"Yeah?" He shrugged his shoulders and turned to Savi, "Well, here's our che-"

The blond girl didn't even wait to be introduced as she started cooing the young navigator. "I'm Savi~! Nice to meet you~ If you want anything~ Just tell me and I will get it for you~ Niko-swan~!" She even had a name picked out for him; not the best that he would have hoped.

Niko lifted his eyebrow at the new crew member. Even if they only just met, the chef already fell for his charm, as well as any other males. This was a very sudden change for Niko, who usually had to lure females to look the other direction.

Luffy grabbed Urika by the shoulder, "And this is our sharpshooter, Urika!" He gestured at the longnose woman in his grip.

The swirly brow cook looked over at Luffy without her flirtatious smile, "I don't care about gals," she stated firmly.

"HEY!" The longnose girl stood up and pointed her finger at her. "Are you trying to pick a fight?!" The two banged heads.

"That's mean Savi-sis!" Yosaku frown.

"Is it~?" She blinked at the man in the headgear. He fell under her charm imminently.

"Oh, you two don't have to fight over me. There's enough to go around," Niko smirked.

The longnose backed away several steps and raised her finger. "As if I would fight over you!" This earned a growl from Savi. "Hey Luffy! Why did you pick her?!" she turned and looked at her laughing captain, but the answer never came. Urika stood there by the railings as a groan escaped her lips. Just like Zora, she already knew this Savi was going to be trouble.

Johnny and Yosaku turned to stare at the straw hat boy, "Thank you for allowing us to join until the next island."

"Sure thing!"

Four tangerine trees were planted on the upper deck.

**Why didn't you follow the canon? Luffy's superpowered now, I suck at fight scenes, and like I have said in the beginning (I think), I'm changing up the backstories of some characters (...mostly for Niko). His backstory was changed a lot from canon, so I took some of that out. Also, I was going to have Niko trying to kill Arlong in his sleep, so when Luffy arrives it would be in the middle of Niko's execution...yeah, I'm glad I didn't go that way. Sorry Urika fans, if any, but she had to stay in the background even through she finally returned.**

**When will the others know bout Zora? Luffy and Savi knows, Luffy doesn't care, so he will keep calling her Zoro. Urika knows, but she wasn't there when it was unveiled...and because of Johnny's help, she's going to call Zora...ZORA! Yay! In the next chapter, she will try to get Zora to fess up about ...Niko is the only one who doesn't know.**

**_Looks like I'll be taking a break from Origin of names (since Chopper comes in later on)._****_  
_****I don't own One Piece, if I did, I would have better grammar.**

**_Guest1: Why does it seem like all main villains in East Blue sucks (other than Buggy)? Like, it's always the firstmate who gives a good impression (like Hatchan, Jango, Gin). And yeah, next chapter will shine through with Merry! _**


	9. Loguetown

His eyes widen as he opened the door as his jaw dropped onto the ground; wide enough for a critter to crawl into. Zora sat there in the middle of the room while trying to keep a certain long nose girl away. It wasn't unusual for Zora to pick a fight with one of them, or Savi to take the fight to the green haired girl; but it was unusual when the swordsman was wearing a tank top that showed her bust.

"Y-You're a-" Niko's eyes widen at the sight.

The two barely heard Niko's rambled as they fought over a pair of scissors within Zora's hand. She held them high over her head as the long nose woman hopped up and down trying to reach them. "You're going to do it wrong!" Urika tried to justified her motives.

"A GIRL!"

Zora finally took noticed of the newcomer and slowly turned her head to look at the male who stepped down the ladder. She tilted her head to the side and barely looked fuzed by Niko's statement. "Yeah?" she lifted one of her eyebrows. As soon as she was unguarded, Urika took the pair of scissors from Zora's hands. "Hey!" she growled.

"See!" Urika pointed to Zora's bust with a huge smile. She finally won the scissors "I'm not the only one seeing things! Zoro's a girl the whole time! And I thought I was crazy!" The dark skinned woman smiled and lifted her hand up as if she wanted a high-five from the orange haired man. Her smile dropped as she was left hanging. She straighten her back and looked at him. "Niko? Is something wrong?"

Locks of green hair fell onto the ground. A blade sheathe back into its case. A smirk grew on Zora's face while Urika gotten onto the ground. "I TOLD YOU I WAS GOING TO CUT IT!" She screamed into the floorboards.

"Too late," she stepped onto the locks of hair. Her eyes made contact with the navigator. "Is he dead?" One side of her lips raised as she clapped her hands right in front of Niko's face.

The man growled. "Who told you to go and get a sex change! You idiot!" He raised his fist to punch Zora, who only dodged.

"It's that Dartboard who got the sex change, not me."

Niko froze once more and his arm fell to his side. "You're telling me...you have been a...wo..man the full time?" Zora nodded her head, while he tugged on his orange locks of hair, "And I didn't notice it?!"

Urika couldn't help herself. She raised her face from the ground and a giggle escaped her pink lips. It felt so great to her that she found out something before the others. Even though it was Johnny who confirmed her beliefs and didn't think she was crazy for seeing a pair of jugs on the swordsman's chest. But she still wanted to punch Zora for cutting off her green hair.

She didn't know why Zora didn't hide her puffballs anymore, and instead took the bandages off her chest and wore a simple white tanktop. Once again, she didn't even know why Zora show up at Arlong Park covered in bandages from head to toe in the first place; since the green hair only wore them over her breasts. All she knew, Zora was actually going laying off the bandages...even though her wounds from the Baratie and Arlong Park weren't healed. "Zor-a...you still look like a boy."

"So? I like my hair like this. Out of my eyes."

The stubborn girl shrugged one of her shoulders and went pass Niko. "If you are going to stand there all day, Ero-cook's going to start her period. Again." She didn't even glance before leaving the men's room and lifting herself up onto the deck. For some odd reason, the girl's men smelled like rotten eggs which caused Urika to stay in the men's room much to her dislike. She may have gotten a few pointers from Mihawk, but she hated hair in her face. It got in the way whenever she fought, as well as her bust.

While she was young, she and Kuina were always judged because they were females. Even her teacher didn't think much of swordswomen; claiming they wouldn't get far into life. Zora didn't know much at the time, but she knew just because she was growing a pair of melons wasn't going to stop her from becoming the very best swordsman. Which, she ended up covering with bandages after too many only used half of their strength, which she still beaten them, whenever they fought her because she was a girl.

She hated being underestimating because of her lack of family jewels.

But, to become the greatest swordsman, she didn't want nothing to halt her path. Even if it meant listening to the man she vowed to beat with her three swords. Isn't this what Mihawk meant by discovering her trueself, as well as not hiding it and taking pride it in?

If he just wanted her to show off her boobs, he could have just gotten to the point, instead of glossing it over with such words.

"Oi! Zoro!" Her captain's voice broke her out of her thoughts. His head was in front of the kitchen's door, while the rest of his body was on the other side of the railing of the upper deck. Luffy's head was also upside down with his toothy grin showing.

"Luffy?" she questioned.

"What's a period?"

Her lip twitched as she stood in front of her captain; who just told on himself for over listening to them. She rolled her eyes and opened the door, "Go ask the Dartboard. She's on it right now."

"Oh yeah!" he slammed his fist into his other hand, "Dinner's done!"

"Why aren't you already in there?"

He looked around the deck with wide confused eyes; he was wondering that as well. In the end, he jumped down onto the deck with Zora. The girl walked through the door with Luffy following close by. Savi danced around the kitchen while humming a sweet melody, which sounded like piss to the green haired girl. She sat down at the end of the bench, with Luffy sitting across from her. The black haired turn his head as Savi made her way around the counter and sat the plate of a hot meal in front of the young lad.

This was their first night together on the ship. They sailed a day away from Arlong Park, while Johnny and Yosaku rode along. Whenever those two were, the three pirates didn't have a clue.

Soon the door crashed opened with Urika dragging Niko inside. Her eyes were as wide as one could do without them popping out of her skull. "Niko! He won't move!" she shouted with worry threaded through her voice.

Savi threw Zora's plate at her, and went to Niko's side. "Niko-swan~ What's wrong?!" she worried about him as well.

Luffy's eyes followed the blonde as he munched on the food in front of him. Even if this was Savi's first night with the rest of the crew, she had a good idea of how much Luffy could eat; which was lessen than what he usually gotten from Sanji.

Savi took a hold of Niko's hand and felt the pulse. Which took a lot longer because the blond was too worried about the orange haired to hear it. "Niko-san is alive~!"

"Of course he is!" Urika uttered. "He hasn't moved since he saw Zora's boobs!"

"MOSSHEAD SHOW innocent~ Niko-san~ HER BOOBS?!" The blond chef switched from one mood to the next. She stood up and glared at the Mosshead.

She placed her cup of ale onto the table top and shouted back at the two morons. "THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!"

"YOU STOLE Niko-san~ INNOCENCE BY SHOWING YOUR MOSSY BOOBS!"

"Mossy boobs?" Luffy tilted his head to the side. "I thought it was just your head covered in moss!" The black haired boy smiled with food in between his teeth; totally missing the whole point.

The long nose woman took her eyes off of Niko and shouted at the other two, "CAN"T YOU TWO NOT FIGHT?!"

"NO!" the two shouted in unison.

By now, Niko shook his head and watched as the three shouted at each other, with Luffy the only one reminding seated while laughing at the others. "SHUT IT!" he shouted at them, but only Savi took notice. "You do know Urika has the biggest bust," he pointed out, which didn't end as well as he hoped.

Urika blushed and crossed her arms over her chest area. While Zora seemed unfazed by the comment; she did hid her jugs and couldn't care less. Savi swifted to one side and moaned, until she noticed Niko was moving once more.

"Niko-san~ better!" she cooed. She turned back to Zora, "NOT THANKS TO YOU, MARIMO!"

He shook his head in disappointment as he stood up. Within seconds, three bumps formed on each of their heads. Niko took his seat next to Zora's while the others followed; dizzy.

Zora took her seat next to the orange hair man, and picked up her cup once more. She raised it to her lips and whispered, "Knave..."

"I heard that!" he slammed his fist down once more. Another bump formed on top of the last one.

Yosaku peeked inside of the door and sighed, "It's safe to come in now...right?"

Urika leaned her head to the right, "Yeah..." She picked up her fork and didn't even dare to look Niko in the eyes. It wasn't safe until all of the monsters left the room. Yosaku gave a breath of relief and opened the door so he and Johnny could walk inside. They took their seat on each side of the table. With Johnny sitting next to Urika, while Yosaku seated himself next to Niko.

Plates were placed in front of each of them, while Savi seated herself on Yosaku's other side. They all torn into their food making idle chat, while Zora's womanhood was the elephant in the room.

A hand reached over and took a few pieces off of Johnny's and Urika's plates. "Hey!" the two of them growled, but the evdience was already gone and the only one who saw, Zora, shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't witness anything.

"Luffy," Niko started. He was the only one who seemed to notice the elephant, or at least the only one who cared enough about it. "We are going to use the girl's room if you like it or not."

He nodded and chewed on Urika's food. When he could finally talk again, food splattered onto Zora's face. He gave a small grin as if that say sorry enough. "I will sleep in the girl's room then."

"Luffy-sama~" Savi smiled in delight.

"You. Can't. Do. That."

"Why not? I'm captain!"

"He's right, you know," Yosaku shrugged his shoulders.

With earned a growl from Niko. "There's the men's room, and girl's room."

"Why does it have to be girl's room?" Urika questioned out loud. She was just wondering and didn't really suspect an answer.

"Women's room," Niko corrected himself. "So, me and you, with these two, will sleep in there. While Urika, Savi and Zora will get the other room."

"Eh? Zoro's sleeping in there?" Luffy tilted his head to the side. It was as if he forgotten the whole revealing at the Baratie, but he just didn't care.

"Yes. She's a girl, just like Savi and Urika." Niko was at least suspecting some shock from his captain, but instead Luffy just smiled some more. Was Niko really the only one who didn't know? Not even Savi or the bounty hunter pairs seemed to react much. He rolled his eyes; he was really the last one to find out. Yet, this chat was the same one he had with the rubber boy when Urika joined. "Haven't we already been over this?"

"If Zoro's sleeping in there, so am I!" The strawhat captain declared.

"I'm sleeping in there too, Luffy-sama~" Savi made a slight side comment which went unnoticed by the two. Her shoulders slumped and she looked at her plate.

Everyone was almost done with their meal, but the argument between the two males kept them seated. Savi was torn between both sides, so she sat there looking at her plate in depression. While Urika was wondering where she would end up; because right now, the girl's room wasn't really the best place to sleep. Not after that little accident with eggs and Johnny's head. The two bounty hunters eyes darted from one side of the table to the other; they were watching the debate with delight. Zora spun her glass and took another gulp of her ale.

"We don't have enough room in the boy's room for everyone."

"Then we can sleep in the girl's room!"

"Not enough room either."

"On deck."

"There's no way in hell I'm sleeping out there!"

"Why not?"

"What's the point of having rooms and not using them?"

"But it's funner to sleep together!"

It went from one side to the other before Niko finally gave up. Arguing with the strawhat was impossible. He felt like he was in an endless loop. "Fine. Sleep whenever you want."

Johnny and Yosaku looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. It was about time for this debate to end, since all of the glasses and plates were emptied. Savi stood up and picked up each plate. "Who's going to wash dishes?" She was hoping for an answer from Urika and Zora, but it was Johnny and Yosaku who answered instead; since they were the guests. "You two Bello~ are so kind and generous~" Urika couldn't help but roll her eyes when Savi's hand clanked down on her shoulders. "But Urika will do them."

"We are not that good," Johnny tried to correct the girl while a blush appeared over his cheeks. "Savi-sis."

"I'm not doing nothing!" Urika back talked.

Savi's tone turned emotionless as she faced the long nose girl. "You will."

"I will too," Yosaku added. Savi's eyes sprung into hearts and sparkles at his acceptance, while Johnny lifted once of his eyebrows at his brother. Soon all of the chores were done as the moon lowered down over the side of the ship.

Luffy ended up sleeping on the deck, to his declaration, while everyone else stayed away from the girl's room and slept in the boy's room. Except Urika who was too prude and decided to sleep in the anchor room; which was off the two bedrooms.

...

Luffy picked up the paper that fell down from the sky and smiled. It was his bounty poster; but with a much smaller amount than the last one he had. "Oh yeah!" he remembered. This was his first bounty, not the one he received after Water Seven. "We're wanted again!"

"Again?" Savi repeated.

The orange haired stared at the paper and gulped, "A bounty?" Indeed, Luffy was holding up a paper with his toothy grin inked onto it. Smoke was in the background. But, two things were missing from Luffy's other bounty. He didn't have his scar under his eye, and under his name was

**WANTED  
DEAD OR ALIVE  
RUBBERBONES  
****MONKEY D. LUFFY  
$30,000,000**

Johnny and Yosaku smiled, "Look Zora-sis! Luffy-bro has a bounty!" They pulled their arms around each other and cheered for Luffy. While Zora was in the middle of napping on the other side of the ship; next to the figure head.

Urika looked at the page and smiled. In the corner of the picture was her head, turned away from the camera. Her nose peeked out from the side, while her ponytail and bandana could be seen. "Look! Even my back is famous now!"

"What?!" Savi slide in front and searched the poster. "They don't have my face but they have Longnose's?" Her eyes darted over the picture, but she kept landing Luffy's beauty face. "Luffy-sama~!" she cooed. Then to Urika, "Where? I don't even see you."

Urika smirked as she pointed to the corner of the paper. "See!" Within moments Savi was sitting on the ground, facing away from Urika with her cheeks puffed out. She wanted to be in the picture with Luffy, not Urika.

"It's just your cap. Doesn't count."

"Jealous?" Urika humored herself. "Someday you could get one too and be famous like me, even if you aren't the captain."

"Really?" Her eyes widen with excitement. If she could have her face posted around the world, she could only imagine all of the guys who would come to see her~!

"Now we can head to the GRAND LINE!" Luffy smiled as he stretched out his arms. Savi's arm was already around Urika's shoulders as their feet kicked off the ground as they cheered together. Johnny and Yosaku joined their dance as they cheered along as if they were a part of the crew already.

"You guys..." Niko muttered as he raised his hand to his head. "Now everyone is going to be after us..."

Johnny halted in the middle of his dance and looked at the paper. "Wait...Rubberbones Luffy?"

Urika and Savi, the duo fell onto the ground. "RUBBERBONES?!" The entire crew shouted in disbelief.

Luffy itched his head and raised his lip. For as far as he knew, it was his skin that stretched. "Shouldn't it be Rubberskins?"

"THAT SOUNDS WRONG!"

Other than that, the day went by every uneventful.

* * *

_~May 31~_

_~Two numbers and a flower design inked into the paper disappeared into the night~_

_~A pair of blue eyes caught sight of it and quickly noted it down~_

_~As well as how the dust laid there on the ground~_

_~The others barely noticed while they worried over another matter~_

_~The other matter being a limp body that a huge man held up~_

* * *

Yosaku's hand fell over the edge of the bed, in front of Zora's face. On the other hammock was Johnny, who snored as loud as the green haired herself. Urika rolled on her other side, facing the couch; which was outside of the two bedrooms, in their almost-living room. Luffy, much to his declaration, slept on the deck, while the others slept inside of the boy's room.

Much to Savi's dismay, she left the boy's room, away from the two Bello~ to go into the kitchen to cook their breakfast. She stood in front of Luffy and pulled his blanket up to his chin. "You look like an angel when you are sleeping, Luffy-sama~" she cooed with heart eyes.

A few minutes later, she returned with an apron over her chest. "Breakfast's done~" she grinned in delight as she patted her hands onto the apron, but Luffy did not stir from his sleep. "Hm?" she tilted her head to the side and shook his shoulders. "Luffy~ Luffy~! Luffy-sama~" she repeated his name over and over, but he never woke. Savi went through the same phase as she did with Niko, while the others came running.

"What's wrong, Savi-sis?" Johnny questioned as he pulled out his sunglasses and placed them on top of his eyes. He looked down and he saw Luffy laying on the ground with his eyes closed; all earthy matters were shut off to him.

"He's not waking!" she worried over the small boy.

"Let's get Luffy-aniki on a bed," the other one of the pair suggested. All of them took one of Luffy's limbs, which was harder than it sounded because his body kept stretched back onto the ground. Soon they finally reached downstairs and laid him onto the couch, which was now opened once Urika shot up. "Did you offer him some meat?" she suggested. She was worry as well as the others, but meat seemed to solve the boy's problems, even if it was something huge.

Niko opened the door and looked at the two. His eyes were droopy as he leaned on the side of the door; ready to pass out any minute. He was not a morning person. "What did he do now?"

"Not waking," Johnny pointed to the closed eyed captain. His sunglasses were foggy as if he was starting to cry; like Luffy was going to die or something.

His eyebrows raised then lowered as he remembered something. "Again?" he moaned with his shoulders slumped.

Zora came yawning behind him. "Breakfast done?" She was totally oblivious to the situation, which earned her a few insults from Savi. Much like Niko's reaction, she just stood there with a straight face. "Again?"

"Savi," the long nose woman turned to look at the blond chef, "Did...Luffy fall down any cliffs whi-"

"NOT THAT AGAIN!" Niko and Zora shouted together as their hands went done on top of Urika's head.

"Hey!" Urika grumbled. "You two say again!"

The orange haired shook his head with his fingers touching his forehead. The other three were still looking at the firstmate and navigator, waiting for answers on Luffy's condition. The sniper was still grumbling about her treatment to actually get any answers from. "When we were on Gecko Islands, this moron fell asleep when we were in serious trouble. It took him the whole day to wake up again."

"Luffy-sama~ going to live~!" Savi cheered with Yosaku as the two surrounded Luffy.

"So...is there going to be serious trouble or something?" Johnny raised his eyebrow.

"How am I suppose to answer that?!"

"I was just asking, Niko-bro!"

He closed his eyes to relax his nerves. Luffy always had to cause something to annoy him, even the mornings weren't safe. "We will arrive to the next island...midday." He lowered his head. He looked like he just woke up from a bad hangover.

"Niko-san, do you need some coffee?"

"Yeah, please and thanks."

...

Soon, Niko was fully awake as he sat on a lounge chair on the upper deck. Urika called from the birdnest. Her arms were swinging from one way to the other, "LAND HO! ISLAND AHEAD!" The navigator nodded as the girl slowly climbed down back onto the deck. Urika's lips opened as she stared at the island coming closer and closer. "So this is Loguetown."

"The beginning and the end. Where the last Pirate King was born and died."

"Rubberbones Luffy or Pirate King Luffy..." Urika wondered out loud, "I like Rubberbones better."

Niko side glanced the woman, "Is that right, Brave Warrior of the Sea? Or Longnose?"

Urika quickly blushed and turned her head away from Niko. "Yeah?" she questioned as she crossed her arms. She didn't remember telling anyone about her dream of becoming a Brave Warrior of the Sea, like her father. Except this time, she wouldn't make his same mistakes and leave people behind. How Niko knew about it was beyond her._ 'Do I sleep talk?'_ she thought to herself. Niko only smiled and a small chuckle escaped his lips as he looked at the long nose woman. "Still, I feel bad about him staying on the ship."

"What are we suppose to do? Drag his limp body around town? Remember how you said this was the place where Gold Roger birth and died. Well, this is also the last island till the Grand Line."

She shot up with widen eyes, "GRAND LINE?!"

Once again, Niko gave a chuckle, "How else is he suppose to find One Piece?" He also wanted to add about how Urika was cheering with the others to go to the Grand Line after Luffy gotten his bounty.

"No, no, no! There's only five of us! We can't get pass all of those monsters!"

"Too late now. This is only the start of our adventure. Didn't you know what he was going to pull you into?"

"NO! YOU DIDN'T EITHER!"

He looked back onto the island, "Can I get back to what I was saying? Since this is the last island, it's the last place for supplies. But, this island is full of marines to stop rookie pirates from getting far. Smoker. He's a Marine Captain. Every pirate he sits his eyes on will get captured." He paused as he remembered the bounty, "And...then there's...Rubberbones Luffy."

Urika's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. You are right about him sleeping through this."

"He will get us caught."

The two nodded in agreement.

Soon, their ship was tied onto the docks as the others jumped down. Luffy stayed asleep on the ship, away from trouble, while the others were going shopping. "Thanks for the ride! We are really grateful!" Yosaku bowed his head up and down.

"Next time pay!" Niko replied.

Johnny snickered, "We may be bounty hunters but our pay isn't that much!"

Zora stretched her limbs, "That's why you gotta go after the big fry."

"Zoz!" the two cried on her shirt. Which was her regular white shirt while she wore her bandages. She could only fit into the shirt if she flatten her chest. So she ended up looking like a boy even after deciding to return her old identity, as a girl

"Can't you two leave without waterworks?"

"We are going to miss you!"

"Yeah. I probably won't."

"You are so mean!"

"Sure."

Which lead to them following Zora instead of departing ways, while Niko started dragging her into a clothing girl to look for some new outfits. Which lead to Niko loaning some money to Zora, with a 300% interest.

Savi and Urika stood there at the docks. The blond wasn't really pleased with this, but she didn't have enough time to rant with Urika pulling her into the city. "I will go get Luffy-sama some meat~!" she decided. Still, she wished that one of the boys would drag/follow her instead of that Mosshead.

Urika just let her be and went off to her own path. She had a few things to pick up, plus she wanted to look around the city at their wares. This was the last place to upgrade her stock. As well, she wanted to redesign a certain object she gotten from her house. Not completely change it, but she wasn't an archer by no means.

Luffy slept within the ship while all of this friends were out through the city.

...

The orange haired man piled a bundle of clothes within her hands. She looked at him with 'are-you-for-real?' face. "I'm not going to wear these," she firmly stated.

Instead of listening, Niko dragged her into a changing room. "If you don't change, I'm sending _them_ in there." _Them_ was Johnny and Yosaku, who were still sobbing over their farewell to the crew. This was an empty threat seeing as how those two are now useless, unless if you counted making waterworks. And he couldn't ask a favor for the shop owners because they were currently shaking in their boots at the sight of Roronoa 'Zoro'.

And it didn't help when Niko handed the green haired woman's clothes; yeah, they thought 'Zoro' was going crossdresser on them.

"Knave," Zora insulted as she took the first shirt, which she imminently dropped onto the ground. "I'M NOT WEARING THIS!

"Don't have much of a choice." The male tucked a wooden pole in between the handle and lock. "You aren't coming out until you get dressed."

"Poor Zoz..." Johnny mumbled under his breath.

Yosaku itched his head. This is probably the first time that they actually saw Zora wearing girl clothes instead of her regular training cloths. He really didn't have no clue what to think when it came to Zora, who acted like their older sister, well...brother, in dark times. So seeing Zora in something else seemed total out of character for her.

But, she was still a girl. And not a bad looking one either.

Niko disagreed, "She's a girl, so she should look like a girl." He set his fist on his hip. His home-made bracelet rested against his jean shorts; a gift from his sister.

"Okama?"

"You really consider Zoro-Zora," he corrected himself, "As an okama?"

"Well...yeah, kinda." Johnny shrugged his shoulders.

"Must we really talk about this?"

The two looked at each other and back to Niko, "Yeah."

He raised his hand to his forehead and groaned. "Watch her. I'm getting some clothes as well." It was bad enough she was taking all of his time looking for clothes for her, so now it was his turn. Plus, now he could wear tank tops now that he didn't carry Arlong's tattoo, but instead a tattoo of a pinwheel with tangerines. As soon as he turned to a rack of clothes, Zora tried to open the door. "WHAT?!"

"Have you changed?" he casually questioned.

"Yes."

"Johnny." He stood up, walked over to the door and slide the piece of wood out of the handle. The door opened and Zora stood there pissed off at the orange haired. "Nice," Niko commented and went back to his clothes.

A pink blouse laid on the floor with red letters, spelling out: 'SEXY'.

The one she wore was a white shirt with long sleeves that showed her midriff. "I hate you," she muttered.

"You still got other to try on."

"Nope. I'm fine with this one."

Johnny lifted his glasses as his eyes widen at the sight before him. While Yosaku was drooling.

Niko rolled his eyes, "Fine. You can leave now." At least he gotten her to try on something. Zora turned around, threw off the shirt and started to re-bandaged her chest to git back into her regular shirt. All of this while standing in the middle of the store. "ZORA!"

"Z-Zo-ro is a woman?!" the shop owners shouted. Shocked at their discovery. And the hunter duo weren't much better as blood dripped onto the floor.

"See ya," she stated as she turned and left the store.

Niko stomped his foot and looked at the thrown shirt, and to the rack that he gotten it from. He didn't even look as he took a hold of all of the shirts, green, pink, white, blue and black, and threw them on the counter. He didn't give a damn if she liked them or not. He turned back, and stared at the blood path that lead to the door. _'They were following Zora...'_ he thought and rolled his eyes. At least someone was watching out for her. From what Niko has spotted at Arlong Park, Zora had the same amount of directions as a lost toddler in the store.

Except she didn't admit it.

...

Savi took a puff of her cigar as she observed the food products. It was taking so much self-control that she had not to buy all of the products from male merchants. If she did, then she would overspend the money Niko-san gave her.

But it didn't stop her from flirting with them.

While she was doing that, a strange man with rabbit hat, on top of a lion, strolled through the stands and stopped at a meat stand. The man ordered some grub for his pet; how kind of him~ He took off before Savi could test her luck. She stood in front of the meat stand and looked down at the giant fish. That would be more than enough to feed Luffy, for one meal. "I'll take that!" she smiled as she handed over the coin.

"Oh! Look at that! These eggs are really cheap!" Urika was bent low to the ground as she stared at a carton of eggs. Since she used all of the eggs to defend herself, from Johnny, it was only right to replace them. Plus, she did want scrambled eggs.

"A house-wife much?" Savi wondered out loud.

"I can have my boy carry it for you," the shop owner suggested. "This fish is far too much for a lady like you to handle by yourself."

"You're so generous~" she cooed. Imminently, she turned around and tugged Urika by the collar. "But we can handle it. So Bello~ like you don't have to worry~!"

"Wait! Me?" Urika questioned as she was held into the air by Savi. "I didn't offer to do this!"

"Too bad," Savi uttered back.

"It's alright. My boy has nothin' better to do," the shop owner offered once again, but his request was denied as Savi and Urika carried the giant fish by themselves. They walked past the stands while the bags in Savi's hands jiggled on her wrist.

"Those goggles, new?" Savi questioned.

"Yes! I just brought them. And," she paused as she lowered them over her eyes, "I can see farther away, and it's safe from sunlight."

"Bandana as well?"

She nodded. Instead of her regular brown cap she wore over her curly hair, she was wearing a bandana tied around her forehead. It was a deep red with a few flower designs over it. She even got the pieces she needed to revamp her crossbow.

The chef nodded as she shifted the fish to her other shoulder. "Looks like you had a good time shopping." Unlike the Longnose, she only been examining food products instead of getting new equipment, not that she needed any since she preferred kicking to weapons. Course, she could always get new heels. She shifted her hair back and a thought came to her, "Oh...did you want eggs?"

...

He walked across the stretch of land until he found what he was looking for; that certain ship with that certain symbol. Even though he didn't know the symbol when they first meet, but he only knew one person who would use that Jolly Roger. His hands turned on the handle-mane of his bike-lion.

He smirked as his lion stood in front of the ship. "Captain was right...he is here."

While his lion had other ideas. He took a big sniff and licked his lips. In a second, the lion jumped to try to get on the ship. His body hanged down on the ship while his claws torn into the deck of the ship. "RICHIE!" the man with bunny ears for hair shouted.

The lion didn't glance his way.

So much for being a beast tamer.

Richie crawled his way onto the deck of the ship. Which prompt Mohji to go after his beast by jumping onto the ship. "Richie! Come on! Captain Buggy wants us to burn this as a backup plan!" The man groaned with his shoulders slumped, but Richie was too busy going around the deck. He came to a hatch and poked his nose at the latch. "Food? Down there?" Mohji questioned. He sighed and opened the door for the lion; it's not like any of the food would be good after getting burned.

As soon as he opened it, him and Richie regretted it imminently. They fell back onto the deck and held their noses. "RUTTEN UGGS!" His voice was pitched as he slide his way to the other side of the ship. His lion landed next to him, which lead to Mohji turned to him and glared. "Whuy wuuld yuu go there?!"

The latch was still opened and the smell surrounded them. Mohji picked up a stranded board. Unless if he wanted to smell like rotten eggs for the next time, he needed to close the hatch. He stood up, held his nose, and walked forward with Richie followed closely behind. He came to the hatch and tried to close it, but only ended up knocking the wood board into the room. "Shoot..." he muttered. He went over the hatch and slammed it down.

He heard a snore.

His eyes widen and turned to Richie, "Someone's here!"

Which didn't help when the lion stepped back onto the other hatch, broke it, and fell down into the room below. "RICHIE!" he hopped into the room as well.

Snores.

He looked around. It wasn't a bedroom, like the first hatch, but instead an Archer Room. And in the middle of it was a blue couch with a certain pirate napping on top of it. "RUBBERBONES LUFFY!" Mohji shouted; which he covered his mouth seeing as how he didn't want to wake the pirate. He slide against the wall, ready for Luffy to stand up and throw him off the ship. Instead, Luffy stayed snoring. "Eh?" he glanced at the boy. Richie came to his side and started nudging his cheek. "Heh...he got scared and fainted!"

Richie rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Captain Buggy will be pleased with this!" He looked proudly at himself, until he thought of how he was suppose to get this boy to Buggy without waking him. "Uh..." He looked over to the lion for any help, but he only looked away. "Thanks for the help..." he muttered under his breath, but it did give him an idea. "Get over here," he ordered to his pet as he grabbed a nearby sack; which he as certain that was used for flour. He lifted the blanket from Luffy's body and looked at the sleeping pirate.

His cheeks puffed as he inhaled. His skin was smooth, not even a scar on his face. "Rubberbones Luffy...what a strange name," he itched his head. "Would have thought they would call you Strawhat or Rubberskin..." He shook his head and bagged Luffy's head into the sack. He waited for the anger shouts, but none came. "He's a deep sleeper..."

The pink lion agreed.

Mohji took a hold of the boy and lifted him over the back of Richie.

...

The sword shot through the air. The two watchers gasped as the sword spun, while the other two watched with opened eyes. She held out her arm and never flinched as the sword went pass her arm. She grinned when the sword laid on the ground. The shopowner and blue haired girl gasped. "I'll take it." She picked up the sword and returned it into it's case as the shopowner fell onto the ground. "Hey! Can you pick me another one?" she questioned the blue haired girl.

The girl shifted her glasses over her nose. When Zora first sighted this blue haired girl, she couldn't help but remember Kuina. They both were blue haired swordswomen, who had a habit about talking about genders. Specially when this girl viewed Zora as another swordsman thanks to Zora's bandages around her chest. "Er..r...sure."

"Zoz!" Johnny claimed, "So cool!"

Yosaku shook his head vigorously. "It's Zora-sis! Course she would do something so awesome!"

The shop keeper stood back up and slammed his fists on the table. He started a rant about the origins of the sword and how it was the finest sword he had, which Zora replied, "I can't buy it because I don't have enough."

"Shut up and just take it. Don't worry about the money." He stated, which caused the blue haired girl to raised her eyebrow. "The other sword is free too. I'm sorry that I was thinking about tricking you. I haven't seen a good swordsman in a long time. And...the swords will choose their owner! I wish you luck!"

Johnny and Yosaku cried as they listened to the shop keeper's words.

Zora grinned and added the two new swords bundled up in her green haramaki. She patted it and gave a bigger grin. It felt much better having three swords instead of a single one. She waved the shop keeper off and walked out the door. _'Didn't have to borrow money in the first place...'_ she thought.

...

Urika turned the corner while Savi followed. People moved out of their way and stared at the giant fish in their hands. "Why did I have to do this?!" the Longnose girl grumbled.

"A lion?" Savi raised her curly eyebrow. Urika turned and glanced forward and gasped.

In front of the docks, in front of their ship, was a giant pink lion. Riding on it was a man with hair grown like bunny ears. Behind be was a sacked man who lay over the lion's back.

"A-A-A LI-LION!?" Urika dropped her side of the ship as her eyes widen.

"Looks like it...except for the pink," the blonde chef uttered. As soon as the fish touch the ground, Savi sent a kick to the other girl. "PICK UP THE FISH, IDIOT!"

"OUCH!" She squealed as she picked up the fish again and rubbed the back of her neck. "Uncalled for!"

The blonde completely ignored her as she walked forward, "What are you doing in front of our ship?" She asked him in a reserved tone instead of her usually flirty that she used with every other male; which caused Urika to raised her eyebrow.

"Our ship?" the man repeated. His eyes widen. These were the rest of the Rubberbones Pirates.

"No, our ship. NOT YOURS!" Urika commented. "This ship is under the reign of a great Ca-Sniper!"

Mohji started to sweat. He already seen two of the monsters of the crew, but he hasn't heard of a great sniper. "RUN!" he shouted to his lion, and Richie ran for it. He jumped over the two of pirates.

"THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!"

"Luffy-sama!" Savi's eyes widen as she spotted the rubber boy on the back of the lion. Even if she couldn't see his face, she knew it was him.

She took the fish out of Urika's hands and threw it on board. Within seconds she was chasing after the pink king of the jungle. The sniper glanced both ways; trying to decide if she should follow Savi or stay on the ship. "Oh shit..." she cursed herself as she turned to run after Savi. She knew already she was going to regret this decision. "WAIT UP!"

...

Niko picked up the pile of clothes and walked out of the door. The blood from Johnny's and Yosaku's nosebleeds were still there. As soon as he stepped out onto the street, he was met with a strange sight.

Bunny man riding a lion, dressed up as a bike, while being chased by a waitress and a tengu; he meant Savi and Urika.

Not to add there was a sack over a hostage's head.

Something about the pink lion reminded him of something but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Niko!" the Tengu, Urika, shouted.

"What the hell?" Zora cursed as she stood in front of the lion. It jumped over her without a second thought.

Savi gritted her teeth at the girl, "You moron, Mosshead! Luffy-sama was on that!"

"Luffy's been captured?!" Niko repeated with widen eyes. "I knew something like this would happen as soon as he gotten his bounty!" He shook his head in irritation and handed the pile of clothes into Johnny's and Yosaku's hands. "Take these to the ship for me," he glanced at his captain riding away. They nodded at his command and he took off. He somehow caught up to Urika and the others were running ahead of them. "Even when he's asleep, he found a way to cause trouble!"

Richie took a sharp turn and passed a blue haired swordswoman. She froze there as the lion raced pass her, and didn't even seen those following it.

"Zora! Savi!" Urika called, "Can't you just carry us?!"

"I will carry Niko-swan~" she cooed, "Not you."

"Zoru?" the girl questioned the name on her tongue. That name sounded so familiar. She stood in the street thinking, while the others ran pass her and she fell onto the ground. She saw all of those who passed her. She even seen the green haired 'man' she seen from the sword shop, who wore three swords just like the demon of the East Blue. "RORONOA ZORO!"

She hopped up and unsheathe her sword to duel with the bad swordsman who used his powerful sword for money instead of good purposes. Instead she was only meant with air as all of them were following the lion and barely noticed her.

"Tashigi-san!" another marine called her out from an alley way. He raised his hand over his forehead, "Captain Smoker-san called for you." She nodded and slumped her shoulders. Before she followed the other marine back to the base, she gave one last look at the direction that 'Zoro' left too. It was because of people like 'him' that she dreamed about defeating all of those great swordsmen who traveled on the wrong path.

...

Richie jumped over a stone wall, and someone else took his place on the other side. A man with a long blue and white scarf stood there on an unicycle. "Roronoa Zoro." He unsheathe his blade, "Pleased to see you again."

"Eh?" she raised her eyebrow.

"You know him?!" Urika questioned the green haired. Niko narrowed his gaze; he remembered his face but the name was on the tip of his tongue.

"Don't you remember me, Roronoa?" As he talked, his wheel kept spinning. "What a shame. I guess I will have to give you a reminder."

"Cabaji!" Niko finally remembered the pirate's name.

The dark skinned woman turned her gaze away from Zora and onto Niko, "You know them?"

"Buggy's crew. Had a dispute with them."

Cabaji grinned as he licked his blade, "And now Captain Buggy will settle that dispute."

"Give us back Luffy!" Zora demanded as she unsheathe her three blades and took a step forward.

"Where are you hiding him?" Savi questioned. She didn't care if this man was a man, not when he took away her Prince Charming.

"You will see soon," he uttered. Zora charged forward and their swords clashed. Savi's eyes darted away from the battle and to the stone wall. She hopped over it; the same place that the lion and Luffy were heading. Niko and Urika glanced at each other and to the wall; before Niko lifted Urika over and he was lifted over.

They glanced around but all they seen was a small wooden shack with a hay roof. With a nod, the two ran inside of the building. Savi was already inside of the worn out little shack. Her deadly kicks went flying at the underlings who dared to halt her path to her prince. Urika took out her handy dandy slingshot and backed up the blond. While Niko took a hold of a stranded axe, which fell from one of the defeated underlings, and used that to defend himself; he really needed his own weapon.

"Where's Luffy-sama?!" Savi growled as her foot slammed down on one of the foes. She heard a door close and her eyes darted to the sound. She barely looked as she started kicking out all of those in her way to run out of the door.

Buggy stood on the roof of the small shack and grinned. He held up the sleeping captain within his left hand, while is other hand had a blade. Even though he rather have a flashy show, but he had unplanned time restraints with the Rubberbones crew appearing. "Watch your captain have a flashy execution!" He laughed as he stared down at Savi.

Soon the other two members joined Savi outside of the shack, after they made it through all of the underlings inside. "E-Execution?!"

Savi grunted as she jumped onto the ceiling. Instead of staying on it, the firstmate of the Buggy's Pirates pulled her back down onto the ground. "We won't let you pass," Mohji smiled as Richie showed all of his canine teeth.

Buggy smirked at his crew, "Watch as your captain life ends!"

Urika readied another shot at Buggy and dropped it onto the ground. She dropped down onto her knees looking for the small thing, which ended up crushed when Richie's paw came down.

Savi's leg swifted around while Richie backed away from the kick and onto Urika. "Help!" she moaned as the lion stepped on her. Niko raised his axe over his head and slashed forward.

The blonde nodded at the boy's help and glanced back at her dazed captain. Her cigarette fell onto the ground as she tried once more to hop onto the roof.

Buggy's attitude didn't change when Savi started racing to him. He only smiled and lifted up his blade to her captain's neck. The sack was now removed and left Luffy's face covered in flour remains.

"Fighting a man when he's defenseless is cowardly!" Savi snapped. She already disliked the guy as soon as he laid his hands on her captain, but doing something like this was beyond anything. No Prince Charming would do such a cowardly act. Not even a real man would stoop that low.

"He won't even feel anything," his blade glinted in the sunlight as the sharp side of the sword touched his neck. "It will just be a long nap for him."

"But you will feel it!" She drove her foot into his chest. His grip on her captain's neck and blade was gone as the two items fell down onto the roof. She grabbed Luffy behind he touched the roof.

Buggy fell back against the hay patting and glared at the ungrateful girl. "You flashly little bitch!"

Bitch.

That was not a word someone should use whenever she was in the room.

She narrowed her eyes and pounded against his chest with her light-speeding kicks. He took each hit as he sprayed spit into her face.

"MARINES!"

His hand split from his body and grabbed her by her collar. Her eyes widen as she looked back at the bodyless hand. "Whua-?"

"Heh!" he chuckled at her surprise. "You really think I would go down so easy? I'm Buggy of the Buggy Pirates who ate the devil fruit! I"m a splitting man!" He raised his other hand and separated his fingers from his palm to show her his powers. "You can't go against someone like me."

Savi smirked as she shifted Luffy's body over her shoulder. "Just because you split, you can still feel my kicks! If I was a swordsman, it would be a different story." His jaw dropped as she kicked him off the roof.

She looked down where marines scattered through the shack. "Come on! We gotta go!" Niko ordered from behind the shack.

"Anything you say, Niko-san~!" she smiled and hopped back down onto the ground. She grabbed the two pirates and hopped over the fence. Somehow Zora was standing there with a defeated Cabaji on the ground.

"We going?" she questioned.

"Marines," Niko shook his head. "Probably followed the lion to this shack like we did."

Zora understood and followed their lead out of the mess. As soon as they left the alley ways, the marines sighted them. Niko's eyes widen as he saw a sight. "Smoker..."

"What was that?" Savi looked back, "You want a smoke, Niko-san?"

He sighed and shook his head. They should only focus on getting out of here more than anything. If that marine caught them with Luffy unconscious then they would be in trouble. Urika was turned around, making quick shots at those marines getting close and closer.

The blond, being the faster, took the route on the outside of the city. She didn't know where the dock was, but she knew eventually she would find it if she stayed on the edge. And soon a huge wall came into view, behind it was the docks. "Jump for it!" Niko uttered as he glanced back. A blue haired marine was running closer and closer. She dodged all of Urika's hits.

Zora uttered something under her breath and break up from the group. Her sword clashed against the blue haired's. "You was Roronoa Zoro!" she growled to the other woman. "I've never thought you were him. You must be so proud of yourself that you can trick me! I can't forgive you now!"

"So, you are a marine?" she questioned.

She pulled her glasses off, "I will take Wadoichi from you."

"Try it if you can," she smiled with bloodthrist in her eyes. She was always one for a good fight; which was the opposite of one she gotten from Cabaji. "You go first!" she called out to the rest of the crew.

They ran for it while Zora caught the second highest ranked marine at bay.

Smoke appeared within the city and kept getting closer and closer. He looked over at Urika for any help. Maybe she had a few bombs on her; which she did and only had two left since she's been firing them on the other marines. Urika placed a small pellet in her slingshot and aimed at the center of the fog, hoping this would be a hit.

Tashigi was backed up against the wall; her sword laid on the ground several meters away. Her eyes were dilated as the demon was inches away from her face. She was ready for the Demon of East Blue to end her life right there and then.

The swordsman grinned in victory. "No matter what happens, I won't give this sword to anyone!" She withdrew and replaced her sword back into their cases. "I have to go now, bye."

The pellet shot through the air and was engulfed into the smoke.

She bit her lips and yelled, "WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL ME?" This 'man' was just like the others she has seen. Always giving mercy to those they think are weaker than them, women. "Is it because I'm a woman?" She was tired of this. She may have been born a woman, but she was a swordsman at heart. "In a real match, there is no man or woman. If you don't fight with your real power that will be the most shameful thing. You will never understand my feelings to be born as a woman."

Zora's eyes narrowed, "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!"

"Eh?"

"I'VE NEVER LIKED YOU SINCE THE FIRST TIME WE MET!"

Finally, the pellet explosion, but only added more smoke. There was zero damage done. Urika and Niko gasped and glanced at each other. "WE ARE LEAVING NOW!"

"COME ON, ZORA!" Urika shouted back at the green haired. Keeping them at bay wasn't going to work now, especially when Smoker charged onto the route right behind the herd of marines.

Zora nodded and joined up with the others. Leaving Tashigi in the middle of the street, "Zora?"

Finally the wall appeared behind Savi and she jumped over gracefully, with the other two falling on their assholes trying to attempt the jump. Johnny and Yosaku appeared in front of them. "Savi-aneki! Luffy-bro! Urika-sis! Niko-aniki!"

"Hello Bello~!" she smiled as she dashed pass them and got on the ship. She laid Luffy on the deck to help Niko on board while Urika climbed up the rope. Zora came last as a ball of smoke was hurled her way. She dodged it in the nick of time and jumped onto the ship, and slicing the ropes that held the ship at the docks.

Johnny and Yosaku took out their blades and blocked the marines' path.

"Johnny-san! Yosku-san!" Savi shouted.

"GOODBYE!" they cried as they gotten into battle position.

"Heh, I told you they would come through..." Zora smirked at her two traveling companions.

"They...risked their lives for us?" Urika leaned over the railing and cried.

"It's not like they will get arrested. As long as they don't harm any."

The Going Merry sailed away from the docks.

...

Luffy lifted his head from the pillow and looked around, "Eh? It's still night?" A yawn escaped his lips.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"MORON!"

"LUFFY-SAMA~!"

He turned his head and looked at the others, "You guys are still awake?" He raised his hands behind his head and remembered something. "Oi, Savi, what's a period?"

**Zora finally went back to looking as a girl...while Tashigi didn't notice the change. And, this was the hardest chapter to write out of them all (I had to write most of it last night/today because I somehow ended up with less time on my hands than I thought).  
**

**Also, I posted the full backstory of Niko...callled...Niko's Tale (because I cut out some pieces out of it in the last chapter). **

**Origin of Smoker: He smokes. And his devil fruit is the Smoke Smoke Fruit (too lazy to look up the real name). That's...about it.**

_**If you can't tell, I own nothing.**_

_**Guest1: You cried? Oh wow...I even wrote more on his backstory, posted it on here, called "Niko's Tale" by the way. And yeah, next chappie I got something planned for Savi.  
**_

_** minhthu12-Present: Well, we see in this chappie, don't we? :D Poor Niko...somehow he joined a Luffy Harem...  
**_


	10. Reverse Mountain

"What do you mean?" Luffy tilted his head. He was sitting on top of the figure head with Niko standing behind him. Water dripped against his skin as he stayed out in the rain.

"We already visited Loguetown."

"No we didn't," he shook his head and water flew all over.

His shoulders slumped. He was moments away from punching Luffy, but instead he stood there with a disapproval frown. "We already stopped there when you were asleep. It's too late to turn around now."

His head rolled back. He wanted to see the execution post one more time; since the last time he saw it, it ended up in flames. "Was I really asleep for that long? It felt like an hour."

"It was a whole day..." He wanted to mention the part about Buggy chasing them as well as capturing Luffy and moments away from slicing his neck, but he felt those details were best left untold; the others felt the same. How could they explain to their captain that they left them unguarded and in the enemy's hands? They have only been his crew for one month, yet they already showed how well of a crew they were.

A failure.

If it wasn't for Zora, the others would have already told Luffy of the chase. Especially Savi who wanted to show off her skills by being the one who saved the young man; she was only halted when Niko sent a cutthroat gesture to her. This imminently caused all thoughts of her boasting out the window; the way Zora wanted it.

Luffy nodded his head and laid the palm of his hands on his crossed knees. It felt so grand to have his favorite seat back in place; not that he didn't like the Thousand Sunny.

Urika appeared from behind the two with a clip over her nose. The hatch to the girl's room was opened, allowing the stench out, which meant the whole ship smelled like rotten eggs. But, because it was raining, they had it cushioned within ship with towels. "Oi, Luffy, you shouldn't be sitting out here."

"Yeah?"

She reached over to his shoulders. Her fingers probed into his shoulder blades. "Come on! Let's go inside!"

"Nah," he slides forward on the sheep's head.

"Really?" Niko muttered. He shook his head and left the two kids to do their stuff. As soon as he did, he was faced with a certain blonde who held out a tray with two smoothies. Over her head was a hood that covered her bowler hat, to block the rain.

"For you, Niko-san~" she smiled as she leaned down onto one knee.

"Uh," he picked up a glass, "Thanks, Savi-chan." He stepped to the side and walked inside of the ship, away from the rain.

"Anything for you~!" she swooned over him. Then her next target was Luffy, "Luffy-sama~ your drink~!"

"Eh?" he turned around, causing Urika to hang over the figurehead by holding onto his shoulders. "Thanks Sa-"

"LUFFY!" Urika shouted. Her eyes widen as she looked at the deep blue sea underneath.

He turned back around to see what was the problem, which he slammed Urika into the ship instead. "Oh, sorry!" he snickered as he pulled her up onto the figurehead.

"Luffy-sama~ You're so kind~!" Savi grinned as she did a small pose for his generous actions.

"Kind..." the longnose rolled her eyes. She climbed over the railing, away from certain death. Why Luffy was sitting out in the rain was beyond her, all she knew her hair was getting fizzy from the water and puffed up.

"Is it good?" She asked the captain, who nodded in response as he sucked down the liquid.

"Mine?"

Her eyes narrowed at the dark skinned girl. Without any hesitation, she uttered, "Shitty nag," and turned around to leave. For a moment, Urika's neck gave out as her head dropped down at the flat-out rejection. Over a smoothie. Savi halted her path as she stood there in the middle of the deck. Her hand was raised over her forehead as she looked out into the ocean. "Pi...pirates?"

"What was that?" Urika hopped over the railing to see. She lifted her goggles over her eyes and looked out into the ocean. Through the rain she seen a big pink ship was coming their way, with a pirate flag blowing in the wind. "P-PIRATES!"

"Cool," Luffy smiled. After a good rest, he wanted some good old action.

"A pink ship?" Savi wondered out loud and then she deflated. "...it's totally a shitty woman captain..."

"What's wrong with that?! It could have been Smoker! Or that Bignose guy!"

"You're the one talking…"

Zora stood up from the deck and walked over to the railing. She placed a hand on her swords. That Jolly Roger reminded her of something, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint it. The water splashed onto her new blouse.

Cannon flew through the air; aimed right at their ship.

"ENEMY HAS FIRE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Urika paced from one end of the ship to the other as she panicked; just like she had done during Fullbody's attack. She even slipped on a puddle of water and crashed into the staircase, which didn't stop her from going at it once again.

Savi placed her hand on the sniper's shoulder, "Calm it, idiot." Moments later, the chef jumped into the air to send the cannonball flying elsewhere.

Zora unsheathe her sword, ready to cut the cannon even if she knew it wouldn't work.

And lastly, Luffy chuckled as he pushed the two back onto the ship and the cannonball flew into his own body. It stretched from impact and darted back where it came from. His feet slipped on the slipping railing and he was moments away from falling into the water until two hands pulled him back over board.

The cannonball crushed into the enemy's ship. The pink wood boards fell into the sea.

"Impressive, Luffy-sama~!" Savi commented.

"Shut it, Eyebrow."

"What was that, Mosshead?!"

Luffy grinned as he heard screams from the other ship. The ship breezed right through the water as if they were trying to crush into the ship. Urika, finally over her panic attack, loaded her slingshot and aimed for the other ship.

"NIKO!" a husky voice shouted at the top of their lungs.

Zora raised her eyebrow, "Niko? What does this have to do with him?"

"You will never get your hands on Niko-san!" Savi shouted back.

And this was the moment Niko opened the door and glazed at the action playing outside of the ship. As soon as his eyes lay on the pink ship, his color drained from his face. It was a ship he never wanted to see again; not even for the life of him. All of the memories raced through his mind as he remembered that day.

"Eh? Niko, something wrong?" Luffy tilted his head to his navigator. Savi's eyes darted from the incoming ship to Niko; concern was written all over her face. She didn't know what would caused Niko to make that face, but it must be something horrible; and she thought the captain of the enemy ship being a woman was already bad enough.

"We have to run away! Quickly!" he shouted with his arm raised into the air.

Urika was more than glad to run over and hurl the ropes as the sail raised; but she could barely hold onto the ropes all by herself.

"What for?" Luffy questioned. Which was strange since he never questioned 'Nami', but this ship didn't seemed to be any different from any other pirate.

The pink ship did a big turned as it gotten to the side of the Rubberbones Ship. Savi and Zora guarded the side as underlings hopped on board. The pink ship was bigger than the Merry by a grand fold. The black haired captain stretched his limbs as he stood on the deck of the ship.

Alvida stepped out from the shadows and grinned at him. Some may call her a cougar, but she enjoyed those smooth bastards. "You may not be Niko, but you are something else."

"Eh? The fat cow again," he muttered under his breath. He was really hoping for a challenge, but instead he was faced with this landwhale.

Fat cow.

Those two words froze all of the underlings with their jaws dropping onto the ground. Savi and Zora paused in their attack as the sweating underlings stood there defenseless. Evil aura rolled off the female captain as she picked up her iron mace. Veins popped throughout her face.

A small boy hides behind the post. He couldn't even watch what his captain was about to do to Luffy. Instead, he stood there and shook with fright as water drenched his hair.

"BRAT!" she raised her mace and stroke downwards. Luffy hopped out of the way and she destroyed her own ship instead of landing her hit.

By now, all of the underlings regained their senses and started attacking. But instead of attacking those on the Rubberbones Ship, they piled back on board of their own ship to attack Rubberbones Luffy. Niko stood there and gulped when Alvida stood on the edge of her own ship. He remembered that day clearly, even though he wanted to forget all of the details as quickly as possible. It wasn't one of his better days either.

And Alvida sighted him as well. "Why isn't it Niko? I've been searching through the sea for your ass."

Savi's head turned to look at the orange haired with wonderment. "Niko-san?"

"Hey," Luffy started. He stood behind the female captain, "Are you going to fight or what?"

She didn't even pay attention to the rubber boy. "I heard you joined a pirate crew, even after our promise. So of course I had to come to see why you joined another crew. Who wouldn't want to be on the crew of the most beautiful girl in the world?"

Niko head dropped against his chest.

"Beautiful girl?" Savi questioned out loud. The pink haired boy's eyes widen. He knew whatever was going to follow from the blonde's mouth wasn't going to be something pleasant. Yet Savi was already snapped before the pink haired boy could halt it. "More like a fifthly seacow."

"What was that?!" Alvida's eyes darted from Niko's drained form onto Savi's. "What did you just say to me? Haven't you heard about me? The most beautiful girl in the world, Iron Mace Alvida."

"Did you come from a loony bin?"

She growled and jumped down onto the deck of Merry. All thoughts related to Luffy and Niko was lost as her blood boiled in anger.

"Leave it to Dartboard," Zora rolled her eyes. The blonde may be a friend to men, but she was the arch enemy to females.

"What was that?!" she snapped to the green haired. And those two began their own fight with each other; leaving Alvida standing there with a deadly glare on the blonde haired.

"Hey! We were fighting Seacow," Luffy puckered his lips as he jumped back down onto the deck.

Alvida's eyes narrowed as she took hold of her mace and smashed anything in her path; like the outside of her ship and a nearby underling. "You fools! You are going to pay!" she cried out.

Zora and Savi halted their fight to glare at the woman, "Don't interrupt!"

She growled at them, but Luffy pounced onto her. Her foot slipped back and she fell onto the deck while Luffy jumped backwards as if he was playing with her.

The sniper took a step forward. All of the underlings were either taken cared of or being scared to death by their own captain. Then she paused as she saw something move on her side. She stood there and shook as she slowly turned to stare at the remaining underling. As soon as their eyes made contact, the both of them jumped into the air and screamed their heads off, "AHHHHHHHH!"

"Urika?!" Niko faced away from the fight going on between Alvida and Luffy onto the dark skinned girl. "What's wrong?" he looked into the shadows, and hiding behind the corner was a boy.

Urika raised her slingshot and aimed at the boy, who held up a small blade. Neither looked like they would actually use their weapons on each other, rather the boy dropped his onto the ground. Urika proudly grinned as she raised her arms into the air. "Cower before me, Great Sniper!"

And the boy obeyed. He bent over on the ground and shook. "I-I-I-I-I don't want to fight! I-I was just o-o-ordered to com-e al-along!" he bailed as his face faced the ground under him.

"Eh?" Urika looked back at Niko for any information. She really didn't think that would actually work, yet alone have the boy crying before her. "Was I too scary?" she questioned out loud as she held up her finger on her lip.

Luffy's arm stretched backwards. Moments later Alvida was knocked off the ship, as well as the other underlings joining her in the water. Luffy's lips pinched together as he looked over the railing. His shoulders gave a small shrug as he turned around to look at his crew. Savi and Zora managed to finally stop fighting, when Luffy's arm broke them apart, while the other two members were crowded around a boy. Who took this chance to dive over the railings with the others.

"That was weird," Luffy stated as he looked down into the water. He could have sworn he saw Coby.

"The Loch Ness Monster already gone?" Savi questioned as she lay her foot back onto the ground.

"Um," Zora sheathed her swords and looked at the orange hair. "What was that about?"

"Don't speak that way to Niko-san!"

Niko sighed as her shoulders slumped. "Well...you see...sometimes I had to...lure women to bed. You know," he scratched his head, "To steal some treasures from them."

"Niko-swan can lure me anywhere~!"

Urika sweat dropped, "Not surprising..."

Niko glared at her while Zora agreed with her statement with a nod. "Couldn't you at least pick some other girl? Instead of _that_?"

"It's not like I meet a lot of girl captains..." He lifted his hand up and waved it, "Plus, I just drugged her drink and ran out." He swiftly turned his head as his bangs started getting into his eyes. Her eyes narrowed as he looked at the light through the fog. "A lighthouse? Already?"

"We're here!" Luffy grinned in delight.

"The entrance to the Grand Line," Zora gave a smug smile as she took a step forward to the figure head, as the others started joining her there.

"Won't it be dangerous to cross in the middle of a storm?!" Urika bellowed. She couldn't believe it. She was finally here. This was the start of their journey as pirates.

Savi rolled out a barrel onto the deck and the sniper raised her eyebrow at the blonde's actions. "What? Shouldn't we have a ceremony for entering the Grand Line?" She turned the barrel where it laid on its bottom. Everyone else surrounded her as she was the first to start. She placed her foot on the lid, "I want to find All Blue!"

_"I saved you because both of us share the same dream."_

_"So you're going to die for it? Are you stupid? It's not about death! Dying isn't paying him back! That's not what he saved you for! Yet you want to He saved you so that you could live, yet you want to die!? Only a weak person would act like that!"_

Luffy followed, "I want to become the Pirate King!"

_"Someday, I'll gather nakama who won't lose to this crew, find the greatest treasure in the world, and definitely become the greatest pirate in the world, the Pirate King!"_

Niko looked at the other two and finally joined in. He couldn't help but grin in their childish actions. He placed his foot next to Luffy's. "I want to draw a map of the entire world!"

_"Wow, a map of the island! After sea maps, you even learned how to do land maps?! Amazing."_

_"I wish to travel around the world with my navigation technique and I will make a map of the world!"_

_"YOU ARE MY FRIEND, NIKO!"_

"I want to become the greatest Swordsman in the world." Zora slammed her foot down next.

_"Someday, either you or I will become the greatest swordsman in the world!"_

_"If I take a single step back, I...would be backing down on my promise, and I will not be able to stand here again."_

_"Luffy! I am sorry I disgraced your name! If I can't become an invincible swordsman, how can I be on the Pirate King's crew? I WON'T LOSE TO ANYONE EVER AGAIN! UNTIL I DEFEAT THAT MAN AND BECOME THE GREATEST SWORDSMAN, I WON'T LOSE AGAIN! FOREVER!"_

She was the only one left to tell her dream, but instead she sweated as she looked at the others. Finally, she settled her foot in between Zora's and Savi's. "I want to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!"

_"Your father is the bravest man on this whole island."_

_"They will soon! I'll come back and tell you and everyone of my real greatest adventures!"_

_"When I left Syrup village, I left everything behind! Tranquility.. Safety.. They face hardships everyday and they laugh like they're really having fun! That's why I decided to go out to the sea! I want to laugh 'til I cry too! But if I don't fight with everything I got, there's no way I deserve to be on the same boat as them! There's no way I can laugh with them!"_

All five feet were on top of the lid. "LET'S GO TO THE GRAND LINE!"

As the lighthouse came into view, as did a thick giant wall with fog surrounding it. In front of the boat was a steam that leads up the mountain.

"Wait, we are going up the mountain?" Zora questioned as she looked at the incoming mountain.

"It's the entrance of the canal!" Niko exclaimed. "Hold the rubber tight!"

Quickly, Urika and Zora raced inside of the ship to hold tight on the steering post. As soon as the ship gotten into the fast-paced water, the rubber wouldn't stay in one place.

And eventually broke under the pressure.

Their eyes widen.

Luffy chuckled.

"This isn't a laughing matter!" Niko punched the dumbbell.

"Don't worry! It's all fine," he grinned.

"LUFFY! YOU MORON!" Urika shouted. "WE DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER THE SHIP!"

Luffy shooed their concerns off as his body enlarged. He used his body as a pillow as the ship was heading into the giant wall, the Red Line. The ship crashed into his body and bounced back on course. "See!" Luffy smiled as the ship started sailing upstream.

"Take my hand, Luffy-sama!" Savi stated as her hand reached out to grab Luffy before he would be left behind and sink into the sea. He happily grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled himself into the ship. Her eyes were filled with love as soon as their hands touched. Her body warmed up as she replayed the moment over and over again in her mind.

"WHOA!" Urika cheered with Luffy. "We did it!"

The ship continued the course to the top of the mountain. They were finally there, to the Grand Line.

Luffy gave them his toothy grin. He finally made it back and soon he was going to reunite with the rest of his crew. "I'm coming to get you, Brook, Robin, Franky, and Chopper! You can count on that!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. His fingers clenched into his palm as he raised his fist into the air.

Niko glanced at Zora with a lifted eyebrow, who only shrugged her shoulders. She already heard a few of those names once, but none of them still ranged a bell. But seeing as how the others made it on the ship, Zora could only guess these were the future crew members. Whoever they might be; but the name Robin did ring an unfriendly bell in her mind.

"ONWARD! TO THE GRAND LINE!" Savi, Urika and Luffy chanted together. Savi laid her arm over Luffy's shoulders, who did the same to the two girls. Niko leaned over the railing as the sea water splashed onto his face; the rain from earlier seemed too disappeared. Zora crossed her arms as she looked pass the figure head and onto the incoming sea.

A black wall appeared before them as a wail screeched into their ears.

"A mountain?" Savi started her jig as she gazed at the object in front of their path.

"There's no way there can be a mountain! We just crossed it," Niko stated firmly. But whatever was in front of them was the size of a mountain. The ship, going along with the downstream, was aiming right for the giant beast.

"Laboon!" Luffy cheered.

"He knows the giant whale as well?!" Urika gulped. Why did he know everyone?! Next he will be saying the whale was going to be their next crew member.

"We're going to hit it!" Zora shouted. She jumped over the railings that lead to the lower deck. She ran inside of the lounge room, as well as the other two. All of their hands gripped onto the broken rubber as they tried to stop the impact from happening.

Luffy head cocked to the side as his hands reached out onto the stone wall to pull them out of the wall of hitting the giant whale. Which proved to be useless since the whale was so giant; he was still in the way. "Oh! I got an idea!" he ran into the anchor room.

"Oh no..." Niko stammered. He could only imagine what was going to happen next.

BANG!

The cannon shot at the whale. A childish giggle was heard as the ship slowed down before hitting the beast. Luffy hopped out of the ship and looked at the whale.

"He didn't feel the cannon?!"

"Must be a stupid whale..."

The ship sailed onto the side of the whale, right under his eye. Luffy sat on his favorite seat and waved his hand. "Long time, no see! Laboon!"

At the sound of his name, the whale's eye turned and looked at the pirates. Luffy chuckled like an idiot, while others were calling him an idiot for getting the whale to notice them as soon as they were about to leave undetected.

Instead of responding to the captain's greeting, the whale only opened his mouth and cried once more. Water flooded into his water and carried the Rubberbones ship inside as well. Luffy jumped to the top of the whale as soon as Laboon closed his mouth once again. "Where's the hatch?" he repeated over and over as he stood on the whale's skin.

Laboon took another dive into the water just as soon as Luffy found the hatch and slipped within the whale. "Man...I'm not food, dumb whale...and my friends aren't either." His feet slammed onto the pathway.

Inside of the whale were metal pathways going from one side to the other. All of them were connected together within the whale. Luffy looked around with curiously written all over his face. He always wanted to explore these routes.

Laboon took a sharp turn.

Luffy fell on his bottom. "Ouch..." he uttered as his bottom slide down the pathway as Laboon was diving into the ocean.

"Alright, Ms. Wednesday." A voice came from behind him.

"Eh?" Luffy uttered under his breath. He twisted himself forward and his eyes widen in delight. In front of him was a blue haired girl. He couldn't help but grin as he was reunited with his old nakama. "Vi-"

He crashed into the duo. The three shot through the door at lighting speeds. On the other side of the door was the whale's stomach; redesigned to become a one man's resort. "Oi! Zora! Catch me!" Luffy ordered as he flew through the air.

"What?! Luffy!" Zora grumbled as Luffy tried to brace himself for the water.

Savi hopped out and grabbed the rubber boy before he even touched the water, and the two fell into the ocean. This wasn't stomach gases, but the ocean water Laboon just sucked up. Savi's arms prattled as she took Luffy onto the land. "Where's Vivi?" Luffy questioned out loud.

"Who?" the blonde questioned.

"Oh, I see her now!" He grinned as he pointed to the blue haired girl swimming in the ocean. Behind her was a guy with a crown and nines all over his body.

"I-Is she your girlfriend?" Savi stuttered as she glared at her rival.

"She's my nakama! Just like you!"

"Luffy-sama~ You're so sweet~!"

Vivi, or Ms. Wednesday, hunched over the shore of the island stationed within the whale's stomach. She panted as she coughed up water. And the man did the same. Water from his drenched hair dripped onto the sandy shores.

"You two hooligans..." Crocus uttered in a foul tone. He was an old man who stood up from a chair and walked over to the two strange people. His arms were crossed as he glared at the newcomers. Even with the run-in with the crew didn't stir up this much hate.

Talking about the crew, the other three docked the ship on the island and hopped onto the ground. "What happened to you, Luffy?" Urika asked her best friend.

"Did your _friend_ eat you up as well?" Zora questioned. By friend, she meant the giant whale.

"Who are these two?" Niko was the last one to question.

"Oh, you haven't meet V-"

Her eyes widen as he was seconds away from revealing her identity. The blue haired girl jumped on top of Luffy before he could finish her name. And the two lay on the ground with Vivi on top of the rubber captain.

"You!" Savi growled.

"Ms. Wednesday!"

Luffy chuckled and waved it off. "It's alright!"

Ms. Wednesday blushed as she saw the position she was in, and quickly gotten back onto her feet. Mr. Nine raced over to her side. Ropes were thrown into the air and wrapped the two agents. "What?!" Vivi squealed as the ropes tighten around her body.

Crocus stood over them. His arms were crossed as shadows covered his body. Deadly aura rolled off the old man as he glared at the newcomers. "I'm not letting you two hooligans touch this whale." Savi couldn't help herself as she enjoyed this display. She didn't know the relationship between Luffy and this new girl, but Savi didn't like it at all.

"Can someone please tell us what's going on?" Niko questioned the old man.

"These hooligans came from a town close to here." He sat down in his beach chair. "They are thinking of killing Laboon because his meat can feed them for 2-3 years. But I won't let them do that. There's a reason why I'm here. This whale was cared for a group of pirates and left here in my protection. They told me that they would travel the world and return to Laboon. That's why he crashes his head into the wall. So he can get to the other side." Crocus shook his head, "It's been 50 years now...he still thinks his friends are still ali-"

"They are," Luffy folded his arms.

"But...they say they would return in three years, it's already been 50." Savi took out her cigar from her lips, "Laboon should understand now...that they are already dead...that they won't be coming back..."

Luffy stood up from the ground and looked at her with disproving gaze. Why Savi was talking bad about Brook was a mystery to Luffy. He knew about Brook, but the others haven't. To them, they only heard about this story once, and from Crocus' side. "They will keep their promise! I know they will!"

Savi raised her eyebrow at her captain, but she felt a pain in her stomach.

Crocus turned his head to look at the young boy. He tilted his glasses down. "It's been 50 years. No sign, nothing. This is the Grand Line. Pirates come and never return."

"Brook will come."

His glasses dropped onto the ground. "Did...you just say Brook?"

"Yeah? Why?"

Crocus shook his head and lifted his glasses back over his eyes. He hasn't heard of that name in quite some time, but if he was alive, then it wouldn't have taken 50 years to come back to their friend. "Then they have abandoned him. That's why I don't think they are still alive. Even if they were, they will never come back, brat."

"This whale has been abandoned even though he believed in them for 50 years?! This is too cruel!" Urika shouted.

Luffy stood up. He couldn't listen to this anymore. Why didn't they understand? Brook's alive! He's coming back to Laboon! "Where's the exit?"

"Huh?" Crocus lifted up from his seat and looked at the angry captain.

"Where's the exit?" he repeated without glancing back. Zora, who stayed quite throughout most of it, followed behind Luffy.

"Luffy?" Niko called out, but the boy didn't turn around.

...

Their ship sailed through a stream until the real sky shined down on them. Crocus stood on the ship with the others, as well as the two poachers. The two of them were tied up on the lower deck, being watched by Niko.

Crocus stood on the upper deck with Luffy sitting on the figure head. The old man arms were crossed as he looked at Laboon's scars. "If he continues hitting his head, he will die."

"That's why you still treat him?" Savi questioned. She stood a distance away from Luffy and Zora. That disproving stare from Luffy still weighed down on her.

"Yeah...he's became a part of my life. I can't let me die yet."

"What do you want done with those two?" Zora pointed behind her at the two hostages.

"Just throw them out if you want. Getting rid of them now will only cause others to replace them."

Luffy stood up on the figure head and pulled the mast off the ship. All of their eyes widen at his actions, yet he barely noticed them.

"What are you doing?!"

"Luffy!"

"You idiot!"

Savi took a step back, "Huh?"

Luffy took a hold of the mast and jumped into the air, landing right on Laboon's head. He searched for Laboon's newest scar to his collection. "LABOON!" he shouted, "LISTEN TO ME!" He plunged the mast into the whale's wound.

Laboon cried in pain.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"LUFFY-SAMA!"

"OUR MAST!"

Laboon charged forward and slammed Luffy into the giant wall. Luffy's arm stretched and punched the whale in his eye. He roared in pain and knocked Luffy backwards. The boy stretched his arm and stood on top of the lighthouse. By now everyone was watching his each and every move.

"WE ARE EVEN NOW!" Luffy declared before Laboon could slam the rubber boy again. He slammed his fist into his other hand, "I'm very good, right?"

The whale's eyes widen. Surprise how suddenly Luffy went from fighting to this.

"But it's a pity we don't know the result of this fight. So we will have to settle this again in the future!" He stared into Laboon's eyes, "Yours friends hasn't returned, but I will with my crew! We will travel around the Grand Line, and we will come back to see you again. With a special friend! Okay?" He stood up and stretched his arms, "Let's fight again next time!"

"BO!" the Laboon exclaimed as well.

"...Should I be surprised?" Urika uttered. Not only did Luffy know how to solve any problem, but he also seemed to know how to beat up a whale and get away with it.

"It's Luffy for you," Zora smiled at her captain and his odd behaviors.

"He's so kind~!" Savi fluttered. She swirled until her eyes laid on the orange haired navigator, "As well as Niko-swan~"

Ms. Wednesday looked up at the rubber captain and shook her head. She didn't know who this male was, well she knew he was Monkey D. Luffy, but he shouldn't have known about her in the first place. She was supposed to be under disguise. As for her knowledge, even as a princess, she never met this lad. And he knew her secret she's been hiding for years.

How was she supposed to keep his mouth shut? Did she have to spill some blood onto her hands to make sure everything went according to plan?

She shook her head violently; which caused those around her to glance her way. Mr. Nine raised his eyebrow, "Is something wrong, Ms. Wednesday?"

"We need to escape and inform the others, Mr. Nine."

She sighed. How could she handle a well known pirate? And spilling blood went against the morals. Every fight she has been in when she's been with Baroque Agents was always for show. She always allowed Mr. Nine to take the lead, while she would never harm any living creature. Yet this one boy could ruin everything. Maybe she could inform Igaram and he would have a plan. That was the only thing she could think of in this short time span.

"Exactly, Ms. Wednesday. But how can we escape with that angry lollipop glaring at us?"

"I'm not a lollipop!" Niko shouted as he slammed his foot down. He leaned against the wooden wall and blew a piece of hair out of his face. Out of all of the names he's been called, why lollipop? Did the strange dude want to suck him...nevermind.

"Oh no! We've been overheard!" Mr. Nine stated out loud even though he meant it as a whisper.

"We were being as quiet as possible though!" Vivi went along with it.

"Huh..." Niko leaned over and observed the device on Mr. Nine's wrist. "Is that a Log Post by any chance?"

"Yes," he replied snotty with his nose held up into the air, "Your business?"

"Well, you two do want to escape, and a tool like that would be pretty handy for me." He twirled a piece of his hand as he turned away from them, "But, I don't think you two would want that deal."

"What are you planning, knave?" Zora narrowed her eyes as she looked down from the upper deck.

"Nothing," he stated as innocently as he could. "I'm just making some conversation with our...hostages."

"Ms. Wednesday! They are planning on keeping us!" His eyes widen as he stared back at his partner.

Her mouth opened, "Then that deal is our only chance to escape!"

The two suddenly calmed down and looked peacefully at Niko. Their entire earlier dilemma seemed too vanished in a blink of an eye. "We will accept the deal," they stated nonchalantly.

Niko's eyebrow twitched at their emotionless response compared to their earlier over-reactions. He leaned down and undid the buckles of the Log Post. "It was good dealing with you two." He wrapped it around his own wrist, "Hopefully we can strike up another deal in the future!"

"YOU'RE NOT A STOREOWNER!" Urika shouted at the orange haired.

"What?" He gasped and raised his hand to his chest, "What could you possibly mean?" Urika's eyes narrowed as her eyebrows came together. Niko's act was probably the less convincing thing she ever saw.

Yet, Mr. Nine was totally fooled as he nodded to his words. Next phase, Niko slashed the ropes holding them together and both of them took out their guns. Where they were hidden was a mystery. They clicked the top piece on and their backs were against each other. Mr. Nine pointed his gun at the whale. They were seconds away from blowing the whale, if it wasn't for a certain old man unleashing a web of ropes on them.

They were all tangled up.

"You were supposed to leave, brats," he uttered in distaste as he turned his back on them.

Mr. Nine growled as he lifted himself off the ground.

Niko and Urika looked at each other and then to the duo on the ground. Their feet were raised high, and moments later the duo were flying through the ocean. "BYE BYE BABY!" Mr. Nine shouted as the two disappeared into the sky.

"They already left?" Luffy jumped down onto deck. His shoulders slumped until he remembered he would see Vivi soon. "Oh, Urika!"

"Yeah?" She turned around to face her captain.

"Where's the paint?"

Her eyebrow twitched. Luffy and paint did not mix. "W...Why...?"

"I'm gonna make something," he grinned.

Her shoulders slumped and lead Luffy to her stash of paint; which was in the girl's room. "Wow...it doesn't smell so bad now."

He took a big whiff and puckered out his lips. "Can't tell the difference."

Urika's neck went out in that moment as her head fell forward. She moved a curtain over to the side, and behind it were a few tubs of paint. "Don't mix them, use the same paintbr-"

Luffy was already out the door with four tubs.

She sighed and hurried after him. Her body froze as soon as she gotten on the upper deck. In front of her was a giant whale with a giant tattoo across his face; covering his numerous scars he collected through the past. Luffy stood on the deck, covered in paint, as he looked at his masterpiece.

"This is the sigh of promise between you and me! You must not hit your head and make this sign disappear until we come back to see you again!"

"Bo." It seemed like the whale understood.

Luffy grinned, "Very good!"

Niko stared at his new Log post. Now he could venture anywhere within the Grand Line. He sat down at his table and looked at the maps all over it.

Crocus hopped down onto the ground. "With a new compass, you guys will be able to navigate through the islands."

Luffy leaned over the railing, as well as getting paint on it. "Bye, Mr. Flower!"

"See ya," Savi stated as she turned around.

"I'M GOING NOW, WHALE! AND I'LL BE BACK!"

"BO!"

Niko lifted up his map. His eyes darted at all of the points where they could take now that they had such a device. "So, which path should we take?" he wondered out loud. He wasn't really expecting an answer.

"We're going to Whiskey Peak!" Luffy declared as he hopped over the table. A few other members gasped or raised their eyebrow at Luffy's declaration. He usually allowed others to decide for him or have Niko set their course.

For some odd feeling, Niko felt he shouldn't have asked in the first place. If Luffy wanted to go somewhere, it usually meant there was going to be trouble and lots of it.

Behind the Going Merry was a small ship they followed the giant boat. Two strangers sat inside of the ship with their heads bowed down. Both of them shared the same expression: defeat. "We've given away our Log Post..." Mr. Nine uttered in dismay.

"No way to return home, Mr. Nine..." Her head tilted down as she looked at the inside of the ship.

His ears peaked up as his eyes widen at the pirate ship. "But from what I've heard, they are heading there. A charm at its finest!" It was a true blessing from the fates!

**Origin of Mr. 9: He's a performer with nines all over his body. (man...these pieces are getting as basic as a piece of wood). **

_**Thanks for all of the support so far! I really should have done a different beginning, but of course, I wanted to make it different where the first chapter wasn't about Luffy/crew dying and Luffy went back in time. It's Luffy, he gets into accidents. A lot. So of course he'll be dumb enough to get sucked into another universe by riding a goat (it happens to us all, right?). **_

_**Guest1: One chapter again, you were sobbing and now you are dying laughing. I told you I had a few funny scenes for Fem!crew (so...period jokes as well as others are really a must right now). It's Luffy. In Water Seven he would have stayed sleeping if it wasn't for Garp...plus...there was something else behind him sleeping for a whole day (same thing happened in Syrup Village chappie).  
**_


	11. Whiskey Peak

The orange haired boy looked down into the room, where he spotted Urika working on her next invention. He gazed at him from over her shoulder. It took a few moments for Urika to noticed the new pretense, and when she did, she jerked backwards and fell on the ground. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"I knocked." He gave a light shrug. It wasn't his fault the black haired girl didn't hear it. The boy turned around and gazed around the room. Now that this room was liveable once again, Urika imminently took her things and moved right inside. As for the other three, Niko didn't know where they were planning to sleep. For the last few nights ever since they left his home island, everyone has been napping in the boy's room; with the exception of Urika and Luffy, who slept on the deck on the first night.

The girl in front of him rather slept on a couch than in a room with boys instead; even though there were two other girls in the same room.

She picked herself up from the ground and started pushing her work back into the drawers, away from Niko's peeking eyes. "What was that for?" he questioned with distaste. He only came down here to ask a favor.

"N-Nothing," she turned around and leaned her body on the desk; like she was trying to block his view of the containers.

"What's wrong? Writing a letter to your boyfriend?" He raised his eyebrow, "Or better yet, you are drawing some pictures of your crush."

Her cheeks redden and she looked away from the orange haired. "N-None of your business."

He waved his as if he didn't care for the matter anymore. "Well you see...I need a stronger weapon!"

"Stronger weapon?" she repeated as question. "Why do you need a stronger weapon? Usually Zora and Savi take care of them before we can."

He looked down at the ground. "I may have good looks and a crafty min-"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

He looked up into Urika's eyes. "What type of man am I if I'm letting two girls take the punches for me? You saw what happened on Arlong Park! Instead of harming others, I just injured myself." He patted his shoulder that bared a new tattoo.

At this moment, Zora opened the hatch and looked inside. When she saw Niko and Urika inside, she shrugged and closed it back up. Whatever those two were doing, she didn't want to be a part of it.

"I'm not a fighter; I don't even have my own weapon. I had a staff, axe, and a knife, yet I never harmed anyone!"

Urika nodded at her words and glanced back at her desk. On top of it was a crossbow with pieces missing. Instead of firing arrows, she was changing the machinations so it was in other words, a slingshot with direct aiming instead of a slope downwards.

"You should understand the most, Urika. We aren't like those other three. Why Luffy chose us...I still don't know."

"He chose us because we're friends, right?" Urika tried to get Niko to smile, but instead he was gazing at the ground. He was remembering all of the times he had to be protected by the crew. Luffy even took care of Alvida for him without him even asking the rubber boy to do so.

"Isn't that why you have been rebooting that crossbow? In hopes of getting stronger?"

Her eyes widen as she tried to shuffle all it out of view. She hasn't told anyone of it. It was her father's first weapon that he treasured; even though it was his, she still cared about his teachings. It was one of the things she brought along to the ship, along with the rabbit-foot necklace she wore and the box of letters she gotten from her father before her mother died. "H-How did you know about the crossbow?"

"Unlike them, we need weapons to get stronger. Will you please make me a weapon, Urika-chan?"

She looked down at the ground. Her lips were puckered together, "What would it be then, staff, axe, or sword?"

"You're so wonderful, Urika-chan!" He held onto her hands and smiled fondly at her.

"And the pric-"

"Now I know I can get stronger!" He interrupted him as he walked over to the ladder.

"The costs will b-"

"Thanks!" he climbed up to the deck.

Urika's head fell over. She was moments away from following the orange haired. Instead she sat back down at her desk and looked at the oak crossbow. Not only did she have to design this old ragged thing, but she had to create a new weapon for the navigator. She didn't even know what to base the weapon on, a staff, axe, or even a sword. Couldn't Niko settle on one idea for her? She wasn't a magical worker, not that she doesn't try to be.

...

When Niko reached the deck, he looked around. Zora was napping along the wooden wall of the lounge room; the scar across her chest was in view with her new crop top. While Luffy was sitting on his favorite seat, gazing into the sea. The blonde chef exited the lounge room, rolled her eyes at Zora, and lighted her cigarette. "Aren't you modest..." she uttered under her breath before going over to the railings. She leaned on them and looked out into the distance.

Niko stepped to her side and looked at the direction where the ship was heading. "We should be at Whiskey Peak soon," he commented as if to start a conversation with the blonde.

She was more focused on what was behind the ship than what was in front of it. "I wonder how long those two have been following us..." she uttered under her breath. Savi didn't notice Niko's presence as she gazed at the fishing boat following the Going Merry. The two weirdos were sitting inside of the small boat and rowing it, surprising matching Merry's speed.

The orange haired glanced to her side and his mouth widen. "They have been following us? They aren't getting their log post back, that's out of the question."

The cigarette, smeared with lipstick, fell into the sea as Savi glanced over. "Niko-swan?" she squealed with heart-shaped eyes. "You were here?"

He gave a slight chuckle, calming down from his shock of the two followers. "Been behind you the whole time," he tried to joke, but the blonde girl took it a different way than he intended.

"You have been...admiring me from a far?" she blinked her eyes with hopefulness.

"...If you would call it that...then yeah."

Behind the two, Luffy pointed ahead. In front of the ship was an island, full of giant cacti. "We're here!" he shouted in delight. His mood was reflected by those living on the island, which surprised a few members on the ship.

"They are welcoming us?" the green haired swordswoman questioned as she stood up from her nap. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the incoming island. The citizens shouted in triumph of their entrance.

"I would have thought they would run us out..." Niko uttered under his breath as he gazed at the island from the lower deck.

The two strangers in the row boat fasten their speed until they were in front of the Going Merry, and turned as it came to the shoreline. He faced the boat with a crooked smile planted on his face. "This is our home," the man with nines spread throughout his body stated.

"And you are our guests!" said the woman with blue hair. Her arms were spread out as she gave a sly smile to those on the ship, which didn't set right with a few of them.

"Oh great, they followed us..." Urika mumbled under her breath as she lifted herself out of the hatch.

"I can always kick them over the reverse mountain," Savi promised as she planted her foot on the railing, giving a view of that was underneath her skirt. She was looking down at the blue haired with a nasty gaze in her eyes.

"Oh, no please!" Mr. Nine raised his hands as if to guard against an attack. "We are only welcoming you!"

Luffy turned around and looked at his crew with cheery eyes. "Come on! It's a party!" He declared as he raised his hand to the air.

...

The five friends stood in front of an opened door as Mr. Nine shown them the way. Inside was a bar with citizens drinking and partying for the newcomers. Igaram stood at the opening as he greeted the young pirates, "Everything is on the house!"

"I thought your island was starving," Savi remarked as she sat down in a wooden chair. She looked over at the blue haired woman with sour feelings.

Neither one of them replied to her. Instead they turned around and looked at the others within the bar. With a click of his fingers, the blonde chef was surrounded by young escorts. They leaned against her pale skin and took a hold of her hands. She blushed imminently at the contact with the young men.

Urika was shoved into a chair, "Hey!" she squealed as her chair was pushed against the table.

Niko and Zora walked behind them and took a seat at a table.

Luffy leaned forward and laughed at Urika's fragile attempts of standing up. "This is a trap! Isn't it?" she questioned to those around her. Luffy placed his arms around Vivi and Mr. Nine, who glanced over their shoulders at the rubber boy.

"Just enjoy it~!" Savi uttered in response as a man with shiny blue eyes looked up at her.

He brushed her arm, "What pretty skin you have, gorgeous."

Savi touched her cheek with the palm of her hand and squealed in delight. Vivi shifted over, trying to get Luffy from pulling her closer to him. "This is great!" he grinned and stared into her blue eyes, "So where's the food?"

She picked up his rubber skin; she shivered at the touch of his smooth plastic skin, and took a few steps away from him. "The food will be out soon, until then, enjoy your time here."

"You are our guests!" Mr. Nine patted Luffy's back and also pulled away from his grip. He glanced over at his partner, "Isn't that right, Ms. Wednesday?" The blue haired girl nodded as the two had their backs together. Igaram stepped in front of them, in which they exited the building. The large blond stretched out his arms and looked at the pirates. His blond curls brushed against his jacket.

Luffy's shoulders slumped as Vivi was out of sight. He sighed and took a seat next to Urika, who was now getting handed a cup after cup. "I can't possibly drink this much!" she squealed as they handed her another.

Niko lifted one of Urika's cups, "I surely can."

"You think so?" Zora uttered as she took another cup from Urika. Her voice was full of a challenge. Others surrounded the table and tried their hand at the sake drinking challenge. All of them lifted their drinks to their lips and Niko took the first gulp.

Luffy started at each of his crew members, even Urika tried joining the challenge and ended up drunk off her horses. She took a hold of her glass and swirled it around in her hand. Luffy raised his eyebrow at the girl as she gestured him to lean closer. "Hey, Luf~ You wanna know something?" she hiccupped.

"Hm?"

"Y-You are like my best fairy friend!" she raised her glass over her head. "So don't change nuthin' bout that, alright?" With her other hand, she raised a finger to his lips as he tried to speak. "Alright?" With his lips puckered out, he slowly nodded at her request. "Goodie!" she cheered and wrapped her arms around him. Her full lips came closer to him, and smooch him on the cheeks. She leaned back in her chair, with a drunken blush, and raised her glass again and took a larger slip.

"Strange," he uttered under his breath with a raised eyebrow. "Urika, you drunk?"

She snickered and leaned her head on the table.

Before he could do anything else, a plate was set in front of him and drool dripped out from between his lips. Without waiting for anyone else, he started digging into the pile of food.

The dark skinned girl closed her and hiccupped again. She blinked when a man sat on her other side. "Hey! Have you heard about the island of the giant goldfishes? Cause it was awesome!" she slammed her fist into the table, "I, the Great Snippy Usopp! No...wait, my name's Urika! Yeah, the great Skipper Urika~! And I was on this land of poo! It seemed like rotten eggs. Good grief no one was around."

Zora lay her glass on the table and looked at Niko with one eye. "How the hell?" she moaned as Niko finished his glass.

"Are you going down now?" he smirked as drool escaped from his opened lips. "If so, then your debt's gonna raise, girlie!"

"What was that, knave?" Zora questioned through her teeth. Savi didn't even notice as she was being allured by the handsome gentlemen.

He leaned over the table as his glass was being refilled. "Can't you hear, wench?"

Their drinks were refilled and the green haired fell onto the table as there was only a slip left in her cup. Niko lifted up his empty glance and cheered. He looked at the others who tried to join in. "You all butter pay up!" he slurred and leaned his head on the table. His eyes swirled in front of him and the world spun.

Savi lay in a man's lap as he brushed back her hair. She shifted her head when he tried to touch her blonde strands, her bangs and brush them back. Her eyes were filled with hearts as the men questioned her about her life and gave her compliments. She was delighted as she heard each one. This was like sweet heaven in her eyes.

Another plate was piled on top, while the citizens stood back in fear. All of the rubberbones were strange in their eyes, but their captain just consumed all of the goods for the next three months. They thought they were in trouble before, when they needed to hunt Laboon down, but now with this fool eating it all, they could only watch as the cartons empty. Luffy bumped his chest and a large belch escaped from the bottom of his gut. It blew Igaram backwards into the wall. The rubber captain smiled, "Heh, excuse me!"

The blonde giant took out his napkin and wiped the spit away from his face, then tuckered it back in his jacket pocket. His face stayed emotionless as he stared at the strawhat boy. "That was certainly a burp, mi~mi~mi~" He gave a slight nod and exited the room.

"Thut wuss strunge," the black haired boy said bluntly. His body leaned to one side and lay the plate on the pile. His stomach turned into a sphere from all of the food he consumed. He leaned backwards and lay on the ground. He gave a big heave as a yawn escaped from his lips.

...

Zora stuck her sword into the hay covered roof as she looked down at the assassins. Her eyebrows shifted as one of them finally found one there was a pirate missing and nowhere to be found. "She's right here," she addressed them, "You really think I would fall for a poor trick like that? Barque Works?"

Igaram blinked as he looked up at the green haired. "You knew?"

"Certainly. I'm guessing you haven't heard about me?"

He glanced down, "Roronoa Zoro, correct? There were a few speculations about your identity, but it seems the marines have blotched up their information once again."

"Surprise I'm not a demon?" she taunted as she pulled her sword out of the hay.

"Surprise that a well known swordsman suddenly turned female is more like it."

"Still, that's only half of it. That doesn't explain how I know of your company. Though, I'm not surprise you lot doesn't know."

"Our number one principle is everything must be a secret, not even our pasts or identities are known between our agents. But one way or the other, you will still have the same outcome." He pulled out a gun and aimed, "KILL HER!"

As soon as they pulled out their weapons, she wasn't there on the roof. Instead she stood in between the crowd.

"She's not there!" they shouted as they stared at the roof.

She snickered, "So? Shall we begin?"

The agents surrounded her, but she held them off with her three swords. They were slashed and thrown on the ground. Her sword touched his cold skin. "Is one gravestone enough?"

His eyebrows came together and he placed the horn of his trumpet on his lips, and blew. Bullets spread out, Zora's eyes widen and she pulled back.

...

Urika opened her eyes and blinked until her vision cleared, and when it did, she jerked backwards. She was in the middle of Savi's heaven, lying on top of several guys. Her cheeks blushed and then her head thumped. "A...hangover...?" she questioned out loud as she rubbed her skull. She stood up and quietly tiptoed away from the dozen boys, but something was strange. She leaned down and looked at the nearest one. With her thumb, she lifted up his eyelid.

He just stared ahead with terrified eyes.

He wasn't sleeping.

He was unconscious.

"Luffy!" she squealed in fright. "Come on!" she turned around and looked at her gluttony captain, who was sleeping in the middle of the floor. Her eyes gazed over the citizens on the ground; all of them fell there, beaten up by an unknown monster.

Zora was nowhere around.

"Luffy!" she shook her captain, "Come on and wake up! Zora isn't here! Maybe she's an angry drunk and beaten everyone up! Are they all alive?!" All of these thoughts raced through her head, yet Luffy stayed on the ground sleeping. She tried the blonde, but she was having a wonderful dream that Urika couldn't pull her away from.

She didn't even chance it and wake up Niko. Last time that guy was woken up, the devil shivered.

She took a short quick breath and took a hold of Luffy's wrist. There was no way she was going out there unguarded, and Luffy was the closest thing she had to a knight that she had on hand.

And if it was Zora who was doing this...then she and her crossbow had no chance.

The door, wide opened, allowed the cold breeze inside. She shivered under her overalls. Her feet stepped out of the building, and tugged on Luffy's rubber arm. His giant body was stuck in the doorframe. She took a deep breath and started heaving forward. She took two dozen steps, pulling his arm, but he was still in the door. Her eyebrows came together and she took another step forward.

SNAP

His body came flying forward and slammed her right into the building. Luffy bounced off and slammed into the opposite building. Her eyes widen as his body came back flying her eyes. She jumped out of the way before he could pound her into jam.

He bounced into the wall again. If she didn't do anything, then he would be stuck there as a bouncing ball all day. "I'm going to regret this..." she uttered before jumping charging into him. Their bodies' clashes and he got off course, and rolled. She was standing on top of him and ran as his body spun. "I'M REGRETTING THIS!"

Urika raced on top of Luffy's body, which crashed into the nearby buildings and rolled on top of the fainted citizens. It was as if she was in a game of pinball.

A bird and an otter stood on the rooftop, looking down at the city.

Her foot slammed into his face, and he finally opened his eyes. "Why is everything spinning?" he asked.

Urika jumped as she stared down. They were rolling down the hill, right into a clearing with a cactus on the other side. The two of them glanced at each and and shouted as they came to the clearing. "STOP!" Luffy shouted as he tried to halt himself, but instead something else stopped him.

The two of them lay on the ground, and the sniper lifted herself up and glanced around the clearing. Luffy took a big breath as his limbs stretched; his large stomach disappeared within seconds. "Isn't that...Ms. Wednesday?"

Vivi lay on the ground, smashed into the dirt. Her duck, Carue, stepped by her and touched her shoulder.

"Vivi!" Luffy exclaimed as he jumped up.

The girl gasped as she turned to the sound of her name, but recoil once she seen it was only Rubberbones Luffy. She then turned her gaze when she heard someone crack his knuckles. A man, in a long red jacket, stepped out of the shadows. "Is this your backup, Ms. Wednesday? I was expecting someone...flaming unlike that last guy." He pointed behind him where Igaram laid on the ground with his face slammed into the ground. The ground was in cracks all around him.

"Luffy! Let's run!" Urika squealed as she leaned on Luffy's side.

"Princess...Vivi..." the man mumbled in a weak voice.

Luffy cracked his shoulders and looked at the man. "Aren't you Boogers?"

"Boogers?!" the man's jaw dropped. "I rather be called the flaming Mr. 5."

Luffy, not paying attention took a step forward and glanced at the ground to Vivi. "What are you doing here, Boogers?"

"IT'S MR. 5! And it's none of your business..." he looked back where his partner stood.

"Rubberbones Luffy." She informed as she leaned on her umbrella, "30,000,000 on his head."

He snickered, "Someone with a bounty like that and he's challenging me? Puff! Now, get out of my way. We are on a mission to kill the princess, and we don't need you in our way."

Luffy stuck his finger in his nose, "Nope."

"WHAT?!" Mr. 5 screeched. His face reddens as he stomped on the ground. He did the same action as Luffy.

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO BE PICKING YOUR NOSES!" Urika shouted. She backed away from the two insane guys, and almost stepped on Vivi, who was standing on all fours. She turned around and quickly lifted the girl onto the duck; she didn't know why she was helping, but she didn't want to risk the chance that this girl wasn't their ally that Luffy made her to seem. _'She did try to blow up Laboon...'_ Urika had second thoughts, but the girl was already on top of the duck, who decided that moment to sit on the ground.

"Thank you," she said in a hush voice then shouted at her duck, "WHO SAID TO SIT?!" Her eyes turned and looked at the blonde man. "Igaram...we have to get him."

"Go on, Lady Vivi." He placed his hands on the ground and pulled his head out of the ground. "I can handle myself!" He stood up and whipped barrels out of his blond curls. His finger lingered on his necktie, ready to pull and strike.

"He can do that...?!" Urika eyebrow twitched. She was meeting one weirdo after the other.

"Oh, no, no, no. That won't do." A girl appeared behind the two of them and wrapped her arms around each of them. Urika felt like a heavy collar chain has just wrapped around her neck. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Getting away is a big no no."

"Taking Lady Vivi as a hostage...How dear you..." he let go of the neck tie, and cleared his voice, "Mi~mi~mi~"

Sweat dripped from the dark skinned woman's face. Her body shook as she stood there. In front of her, the man flicked his booger at Luffy and it exploded. She was waiting for Luffy to mimic it, but instead he only jumped out of the way. The sniper reached down and tried to undo the crossbow from her straps.

Vivi, who saw her attempt, brushed her foot against Carue's side. The duck's head spun and tried to squirm. "Hey!" Ms. Valentine squealed. She turned her attention from the two girls onto Vivi and her retreating duck. The crossbow was unsheathed and Urika quickly aimed onto the blonde girl. She placed a pellet into the pocket and pressed the trigger.

It headed toward the girl and ejected. She reached around to see what landed onto her, but she only felt something sticky. Jam covered her back, and it ran down her thighs. "Yuck!" she jerked her hand back and tried to rub it off on a napkin. The slimy substance stayed. "You made me all dirty!" she screeched. Her shoulder twitched as the jaw touched her skin. She felt sticky and icky.

"Booyah!" she raised her hand in the air. Her crossbow worked! "Do you want to see more of my powers?" she smirked as she brushed her crossbow, bragging to the blond chick.

"You disgusting girl!" she whimpered. "I will never get this out of my clothes!"

...

Zora's eyes narrowed when she heard those footsteps. She turned around and glared into the shadows as a foot appeared on the edge.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

"Times have changed you," the voice whispered, "Zora."

She unsheathes her sword; ready to attack if the times called for it. "I'm not going back."

His tongue clicked against his lips, "What a bothersome choice you have chosen, but I'm afraid I cannot follow through on that."

"You will," she stated firmly.

"Do you not know of the problems that has arise because of your absents?"

"That never stopped you before."

He gave a slight chuckle and clapped his hands again, "That may be right, but to stay in our positions, you have to rejoin."

"I quit a long time ag-"

"A year ago," he corrected, "You quilted being with me, but you did not quit this group."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" she growled. Two swords were curled in her hands as she took a step closer to the man in shadows.

"You are still a part of us even if you deny that fact, Ms. Halloween."

...

Savi's heart died when she saw the scene in front of her. Luffy was in the middle of the clearing laughing as two strangers were piled up behind him. Urika wiped her forehead as she dropped onto the ground. A man with blonde hair gave Luffy his thanks for saving _her._

Ms. Wednesday, or as how Luffy likes to call her, Vivi was petting her duck as she thanked Savi's captain once again.

Her shoulders slumped as the blue haired spoke with Luffy. The captain acted like she was an old friend of his, while the girl could only stand there bewildered. Savi stomped the ground and grumbled under her breath. What was this? Jealously that played in her chest? All she knew was there was already two too many girls on the ship as it are; not counting herself of course.

The chef could only curse her under her breath. She strolled along the path with Niko curled in her hands; Savi held him bridal style as the man did not want to be waken any time soon. When Urika saw the blonde chef, she hopped back onto her feet. "Savi! You missed it! You should have seen my moves!" She beamed at the jealous-filled girl. Her smile turned upside down as she stared at the blonde, "What's wrong with you?"

Igaram bowed his head down once more, "I can only ask this of you as a favor. You have saved the princess twice before, and with no other help in sight, I have another favor to ask of you. Mi~mi~mi... Will you please escort Lady Vivi to her home island?"

"Igaram?" Vivi gasped at her loyal servant.

"Please, my lady, these people have saved us. The others on this island will be awaken soon, and will strike us once they heard about our deeds. If you can escort her, we will repay you with a great reward!" He declared, which caused Niko to stir in Savi's hands, "I cannot stress this enough, but you have to return to Alabasta before Mr. 0 begins his plan."

"Oh, you mean Crocodile?" Luffy leaned his head forward with a huge grin.

The other two gasped. Their eyes widen. "HOW DID YOU KNOW?!"

"YOU SAID HIS NAME?!" Vivi's eyes darted through the sky as she searched for the unluckies at any moment. Mr. 13 stood there in the clearing and drawn their faces on his sketchpad. As soon as her eyes made contact with his, she gulped. "O-Oh no!" her eyes widen as the animal hopped onto his partner's back and took off.

"W-What just happened?!" Urika gulped as the two animals disappeared into the sky. She pulled on Vivi's shirt, "WHAT IS THAT VULTURE AND OTTER?! DIDN'T THEY GO TO REPORT TO YOUR BOSS THAT WE KNOW ABOUT HIS SECRET?!"

"It's not that bad," Luffy chuckled.

"Y-You..." she closed her eyes while her head was tilted to the ground, "are now on a hit list for knowing Mr. 0's identity..." Her fist squeezed.

"I DON'T KNOW IT!" Urika shouted into the skies, "COME BACK!"

"You two don't?" Luffy tilted his head. "It's Croco-"

Urika covered his mouth with her hands. "See, we don't know it," she gave a cocked smile.

"So, we are on a hit list now...this should be exciting," Savi giggled as she took a puff of her cigarette.

"I guess now there is no choice. Even if we didn't mean to, we have gotten your group into our problems..." Vivi stared at the ground.

"Don't worry!" Luffy chuckled, "I will take ya to Alabasta!"

"That's my line!" Igaram stated. All of them turned around to look at the servant, who was now dressed up like Vivi. "Princess, please give me an eternal post."

She stood there and stated at her loyal servant. "What are you planning?"

"I'm disguising myself as you and took these dummies with me to Alabasta. When BQ is chasing me, please leave with these pirates and get there by using the regular route. They will not think to look for you if you went the longer route." He looked at the captain, "Please take care of Princess Vivi for me."

"That dress suits you," Luffy stated as he scratched his head.

He nodded his head and turned around, "I will be leaving first."

...

Vivi stood there as Igaram stood on a different ship. She didn't know what happened, but somehow she caught others into her mess. They could be killed at any moment, and it would be her fault. Her shoulders slumped as Igaram took on a disguise as her.

Luffy went to her side and tilted his head. "What's wrong Vivi?"

"How...how do you know my name?"

"I know all of my nakama's names!" His lips puckered out as he thought of something else, "Did Zoro get lost again?" He wondered out loud.

"But...we never meant before."

"A nakama is a nakama," he shrugged his shoulders, but she continued to stand there leaning against the railings. He bit the inside of his mouth until he gotten an idea. He brushed his hair where it stood up and stretched out his chin. He raised his forearms together over his head and posed. "SUPER!"

Her eyebrow twitched at his action.

He blinked and his arms swayed back down at his sides. He was hoping that imitate would cheer her up, which it didn't. "Oh yeah, that's because you don't know Franky," he snickered at his own inside joke.

Before Vivi could say anything, she heard explosions off into the distance. Her eyes widen as she raced to the front of the ship and stared at the sight behind her. Igaram's ship, it was floating on the sea in pieces. Wooden boards were scattered throughout, as it was on fire. Her pupils dilated; she could only think what happened to Igaram. Her nails crawled into the railing.

Niko sat up from the deck at the explosions and looked around. His eyelids were covered in dust from his sleep. He didn't know what happened, but all he knew there were explosions going off on the side. Savi sat across from him, but her focus was on the fire that started to cool down.

"His ship..." Urika's voice faded away as she took in the sight.

"It was a nice one as well," a cold voice uttered.

All of them jerked around and stared at the source of the voice. On the railing of the upper deck sat a man with a unbuttoned black vest and a cowboy hat. His black smooth hair reached his buffed shoulders. His jean shorts were rimmed with white fur. "I have just greeted Mr. 8 over there, Ms. Wednesday."

"M-Mr. 3!" Vivi shuttered.

Luffy looked at the man in front of him, "Robin?" He stated as a question, because this person was different from what he was used too. Instead of a slender woman, Robin was a buffed man with scars spread at the upper area of his chest. His boots were placed between the wooden posts of the railings.

Robin leaned forward and gazed at the rubber boy from under his hat. "Monkey D. Luffy," he stated in a cold manner.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" Vivi shouted.

"I'd only stopped by to give my best regards. As well as reciting a message from your dear friend, Roronoa Zora."

"You have her?" Urika gulped.

"Why did you take that shitty swordsman instead of me~?" Savi questioned.

"Z-Zora's gone?" Niko's eyes widen, "But she hasn't paid back her debt."

"Where's Zoro?" Luffy narrowed his eyes at the black haired man.

"Don't worry about her; you will never see her again. She is in safe hands for now, but I can't say the same for your group."

Urika aimed her crossbow at him, "Give us back Zora!" While Savi raised a gun to Robin's head. The dark skinned girl lifted her eyebrow, "Isn't this against your teachings?"

"No one threatens my Prince Charmings," she stated as her finger moved over the trigger. She didn't even remark about Zora's kidnap.

Robin blinked and the two were thrown over the railing and back onto the lower deck. "Don't point them at me, please."

"A-A devil fruit?" Niko shuttered.

"All top five pairs of BQ have devil fruit powers."

"Not exactly," Robin corrected, "There are a few who disregard the ofter and wish to live without the use of a devil fruit."

Luffy grabbed onto his strawhat, but hands appeared at his sides and he snickered, leaving his hat open to get taken. The hat spun on Robin's finger as he mocked the pirates. "I'm surprise you heard of my name, Monkey D. Luffy, but that will not be for long. Your next destination is Little Garden. Maybe we will see each other again, but for now, this will be our last conversation."

"Give me back my hat," the captain uttered with puckered lips.

"That isn't what you should be worrying about," the blue haired girl said, "This man's position is to take orders straight from Mr. 0. He's probably the one who ratted on us."

"My, I did no such thing, little girl," he flicked his fingers and the hat flew back to Luffy, "You only knew so much information that you know now because of my bidding."

"What?"

"Nevermind," he looked elsewhere. "I have other businesses to tend to, so maybe fate will intervene and allow us to meet once again." He stood up from the railings and hopped over the deck.

"He's going to sink!" Savi squealed as she ran to the side.

Instead, there was a turtle stationed at the side of the ship, as well as a woman with bandages restricting her movements.

"Zora!" Urika followed Robin overboard, and landed on the ship.

"Oh dear," the man murmured.

The turtle rode forward, leaving Merry behind.

"GIVE ME BACK ZORO! URIKA!" Luffy shouted through the air. His face, redden from madness, stormed to the side of the ship. He was moments away from stretching across the ocean to get back his crew members, but Savi held him there as his foot went over the railings.

"They are too far," she stated.

"Niko! Turn back the ship!"

A bomb flew through the air and landed right behind the ship. It exploded.

Behind them were ships of the millions of Baroque Works.

Luffy growled with his teeth showing.

The princess looked at the ground, "I'm sorry...if it wasn't for me...then your crew would still be here..."

"Dammit!" he shouted over the waves of the ocean.

**Well, there weren't many changes other than the groups in this chapter. So the unluckies only gotten pictures of Niko, Urika, and Luffy (don't count Savi because everyone should know by now, getting a picture of Sanji is like seeing a flying pig. It's not gonna happen). Also, sorry if this chapter seemed rush. I wrote this all in one day, and I didn't know what scenes to add or what. And...Urika kissed Luffy! Awe~! Didn't expect that, did ya? **

**_I don't own One Piece, if I did, it would be filled with plotholes and look like Luffy's sketches (ex: mermaid and shipwright)_**

**_Guest1: What fun would it be copying down the same story? Plus, Alabasta's saga is probably the boring part for me, so I have to add my own things to keep it interesting. Yes, Savi is starting to become a favorite character to write (since she's more jealous and catty than Sanji). I will give you a slight hint, his sleeping mystery has something to do with the number _**_**13.  
**_


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